Talking about it

I've decided there are really 2 kinds of people in this world. There are those who are talking about doing something. Then there are those who are doing something. I've spent much of my life talking about all of the things that I want to do. I did this all through college, into my young adulthood. I was always saying 'One day...., I want.....'. Somewhere around 30, I stopped doing that as a habit. I think that it might have all started with getting a tattoo.
For my 30th birthday, I decided to get a tattoo. I had wanted one for years. I had 2 children. After my oldest had been born, I had started getting into the habit of trying new things. I took pottery lessons, guitar lessons. With my second child, we opted for a home birth. We had continued our parenting course going against the cultural norm. Why not get a tattoo?
When I went to the tattoo parlor, I had no idea what I wanted. I was just trying not to chicken out. Walking around, I saw a picture of a sun. BOOM! There it was. I didn't need to fret anymore. I laid down on my stomach and got a tattoo on my hip. There! I had followed through with a 'one day...'.
A few months later, I started nursing school. I plodded through the 2 years with a bunch of help from family and friends. I would set my alarm for 3:30 in the morning to get up and do my work for the next day. I worked my rear end off, *doing* what I wanted to do. I managed to accomplish something that would send me into a very rewarding career.
A few years later, my family and I managed to buy a piece of property to try our hand at country living. We had spent years 'talking' about moving to the country and building a house. All of a sudden we were 'doing' it. I am now sitting in our newly built house, looking out over what will be our new garden and the goats in their pen. Wow! Who would have ever thought that we would be here?
A couple of years ago, several people at our church decided that we should build a labyrinth. We went to great efforts to get a plan, present it to the vestry, get a committee, pick a spot, get it approved, clear a spot, talk about this, talk about that. Two years later, all we accomplished was cutting down tree and lots of talking. This week, I took some left over bricks and started building a labyrinth in my yard. I'm a doer. I don't like sitting and talking so much any more. Let's get down to business, roll up our sleeves and get dirty.
We've got to stop fearing action. People want to sit and 'talk' because it is safe. There is nothing permanent in that. When you take action, it is real. You can't go back. You've started. So many people get paralyzed in their fears, and they cannot find a way to move forward. It takes a trusting, discerning, courageous heart to take chances in this life. I'm just to a place where I would much, much rather say "I did" instead of "I wanted to."