Right around the beginning of the year, I talked with a couple of girlfriends about having a word of the year.  I was stumped because I wanted something that would be relevant, inspiring and simple.  After thinking about it for a while, "fearless" came to mind and it's been a word that I've returned to many times this year.

I've always tended to play it safe and stick to the beaten path.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  There's nothing wrong with being responsible and sensible and mature.  But sometimes, you gotta take the road less traveled and take a leap of faith.  I have a vision for my life that cannot be achieved without taking some risks and making some mistakes.  Fear - of failing, of disappointing my friends and family, of making mistakes - has kept me from taking risks, but I ain't getting any younger, so it's time to get to it.

Thinking about taking chances reminds me of a conversation I had with a girlfriend.  I was stressing about a guy (totally out of the ordinary...not!) and she was like, you just need to have faith that everything will work out.  That piece of advice is something that is often well-intentioned but super annoying to hear!  It's like when people tell you to "pray on it." It can be infuriating because the speaker seems to be assuming that you'd never thought to pray about something that's obviously important to you.  That being said, this same piece of advice is something that I find myself giving.  The truth is that we can't control anything in this life.  All we can do is make the best decisions possible and hope (and pray) for the best.  Worrying and stressing and fearing the outcome wastes time and hints at a bit of arrogance that we can actually control what's going to happen in life.

Of course, fear is natural and healthy.  But I'm no longer going to let fear govern my decisions.