I don’t have the greatest of memory.

I tend to be very forgetful and that is why I am always writing things down, keeping lists, and trying to keep my calendar updated.

Because if I don’t…I will forget.

However, there are some memories that seem just like yesterday.  They are so real.  So fresh.

I was in 5th grade.  About to start my awkward years.  I was in girl scouts for awhile and didn’t care for it one bit.

My parents said that I could play a sport if I wanted.  Not having one athletic bone in my body… I had my heart set on baseball.

I am not sure why, but once I get my mind made up…I go for it.

I remember the day.  It was early spring.  Still a chill in the air.  My dad went with me to my very first practice.

I remember I had my cutoff blue jeans and a pink sparkly shirt.  I had my new baseball glove that we bought prior to the start of the season.

It had that nice new leather smell and was hard to work into because the leather hadn’t been worn yet.

We arrived a little after everyone else.

I remember walking up and the first thing I hear was “Awww….we have a girl on our team!”

Another boy said “Great….Guess we are going to lose this year!”

Those words stung…but I wasn’t going to let them get to me.  My dad turned to me and said we can leave if you want.

I shook my head no because if I spoke…I might cry.

We then had to team up with a partner and throw to each other.

All the boys knew each other from previous years so they all had friends and teamed up together.  No one wanted to team up with a girl.

 So my dad ( who is pretty awesome) threw  the ball to me.  The rest of the practice went like that.

Even the coaches were discouraged that I was on the team.

With tears welling in my eyes at times that I wasn’t accepted I sucked it up and finished the practice.

When we left, my dad asked me once more if I wanted to quit.  He said he would understand and would be proud either way.   I said no.

I told him I wanted to play and finish the season.  Even as a little girl, I had a drive in me that didn’t make sense.

I wish I could say that I showed those boys.  That I was the star player and I carried them to the world series.

However, to put it nicely….I stunk.  I  probably did make them  lose a couple of games.

 I walked more than I struck out because the pitchers were told to just let me walk.  I played outfield and daydreamed more than I like to admit.

At the end of the season all the players got a ball signed by the coaches.  The cleanest ball went to the all star player…

Well you can guess that my ball was the dirtiest.

It was hard for me to go to practice every week and go to the games.  I knew they didn’t like me.  I was told I could quit anytime.  So why didn’t I?

Why didn’t I spare them and myself of the pain?

I am not sure exactly.  The only conclusion that I can come to is that when I say I am going to do something…. I do it.

 It’s in my blood.  My parents are the same way and I am wired that way.

Drive is a very powerful thing.  It keeps us going.  It pushes us in the hard times.

And yet so many people are stuck in cruise control.

They are stuck in their marriages, their finances, their businesses, their ministry, jobs, and other aspects in life.

Cruise Control is easy.  You basically just coast.  It is easy on the vehicle.  It requires less fuel.  And there is little thought.

This is not the way life is tended to be lived though.  We are meant to be in full drive and working towards our goals.

The only way we can reach those goals is putting our pedal to the metal.   Actively engaging and pushing forward and staying focused.

I will admit that sometimes I get frustrated with those that I meet that have no drive.  They just accept life as it is and don’t do anything about it.

I began to really think and study why this is.  This is what I came up with:

1) Excuses -The one thing that hinders our drive is our excuses. We all have excuses.

We can blame our spouse, our parents, our job, our church, our clients.

However, I want to challenge you and myself to stop making excuses.  There is always going to be something standing in the way.

Something hindering us.  Those boys on the field could have been my excuse to quit.

The coaches stare could have been my excuse to quit.  My dad’s permission could have been my excuse to quit.

But I didn’t.  And because of that, my character molded.  It created a foundation that I can do things even when the odds are against me.

I can finish something I started.

Something else that hinders our drive is…

2) Fear–  Fear is such a powerful thing.  The fear of failing.   Let me just tell you now.  You are going to fail.

It’s okay.

Everyone does.

But that just means you learn from your mistakes and you try again until you get it right.

We could have given up on entrepreneurship when we lost our first business.

That fear was legitimate.  However, we would have missed out on cultivating a gift and talent in us that we didn’t even know existed.

 We would have missed out on great relationships that have been such a blessing to us.

So this post is just to encourage you that in whatever circumstance in life that you are in… Don’t Give Up.

Don’t believe your excuses and don’t let fear stand in your way.

You have a purpose and gifts that are meant to be shared.  Get out of cruise control and do something about it.

“It’s better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would’ve happened if I had tried” – Alfred Lord Tennyson

Are you in cruise control?  Are you actively pursuing your goals… Let us know in the comments below!

What A 5th Grade Girl Taught Me About Life