If you follow me, then you know that I’m pretty big on defining words. Yeah, I may already know what they mean, but for clarification and conciseness, I like to pick the exact word that I’m going for.
I considered daring, adventurous, ambitious, and a few others. However, those words were all missing a little something that I was going for in the meaning. The one that really tagged my name all over it is “enterprising.” And by definition, enterprising is…
Having or showing the ability or desire to do new and difficult things; marked by an independent energetic spirit and by readiness to act.
That’s so me! I am the black sheep of the family, both mine and my in-laws. I’m the one that my friends and family know not to be surprised when I’m in pursuit of my latest and greatest venture. As a youngster, my enterprising spirit got me in a bit of trouble. I’ve always been a firm believer that “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” You can tell that Anaïs Nin is one of my favorite women and writers, given another quote of hers that’s my favorite: “I must be a mermaid…I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.”
My desire to see just how far and deep I can expand my life leads me to make bold decisions. Unapologetic. I call it “scary-exciting.” Going into it, I’m scared as shit. Who knows what lies on the other side of my decision? I don’t know. I have no clue, but I have to see. I have to know. That’s where the excitement comes in. My enterprising spirit then pushes me forward. And because someone may need to hear this, I’ll also share the fact that I’m married to someone who is totally opposite of me; he is far less of risk taker. However, if my endeavor is too daring for his taste, then he never tries to stop me. Counsel me, yes. Stop me, no. Also note that I am in no way downplaying this personality trait.
So most times, even now as a married mother of two, I’m doing most of my scary-exciting shit by myself. What I’ve discovered thus far is that on the other side of fear is freedom. It’s exactly–if not more–than what I thought it would be. I’m sure that it has much to do with my life coach’s mention that whenever you act intuitively, then you can never be wrong. I’ve also learned that the more that I embrace my Me-ness, the more of my tribe that I meet. In fact, next month, on June 14th, I’ll be celebrating alongside a good many of them during the Radical Self-Expression Summit in Atlanta. #CantWait
In closing, I wanted to share one of my latest jams and motivations to do more scary-exciting. Check it out: