Follow Through :: #RiskRejection

You know, I just realized that our little hashtag up there could be misconstrued to mean "Reject Risks!"

Sooo not it at all.

No, my dear one.  Some friends & I are linking up to share the ways that we risk getting rejected in the month of January.  Reject risktaking?  Heck no.  This is about embracing risks, about being open to rejection, so as not to be limited by the fear of it.

Last week, I told you my main risky business for the month.  Submitting papers, doing as God prompts, and attempting to crowdfund a new laptop for Nicole.  Well, I'm still doing those.  My risks, they're on-going.  The papers, they have a finish line, but its a ways off.  I've been making some progress, and now I have to prepare a multi-commodity data set for optimization analysis.  In case you wanted to know.  They're still a ways off from being outright rejected, but don't worry, I'll share every last rejection letter on here.  I've also taken the opportunity to re-email a friend of mine who had responded with... well, nothing, no response.  This time I got a somewhat response, so that's something!

And Nicole's laptop fund?  Well, after I wrote about it last week, y'all were so kind as to check it out, and some of you gave $$ towards it, which is way kind.  Seriously, I appreciate it so much!  But I'm realizing that I'm not likely to get this done on my own.  So I'm stepping out here, and I'm asking you to share.  I've made a button (I think...)

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/61o6nw" title="Crowdfunding a Laptop For Nicole" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzKNgLzz3FhD7PiRcCGnvCRL54Hy_AphaeM-tgBFNPx1Vx1X_SWjscUN7zDkRKNlmviefdBaIaaj0zhMdtCf_QhulB-jYzfA8qirCPpnTK_xUZu6rhAlp0SIh2uAB-zH6pumn-HNWupN9/s1600/DSC01895.jpg" alt="Crowdfunding a Laptop For Nicole" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

That you can throw on your blogs, if you have 'em.  Or you can share directly from the crowdfunding site and share on twitter, facebook, pinterest, etc.  Lots of options.  Share, share, share, people!

I'm going to be honest.  Part of me wants to say "Oh, whelp, I tried.  Too bad it didn't work out." and then quit.  Because my follow-through isn't the greatest. I know this about myself, although I don't really like it.  I'm working on it. But I've found, similarly to how the only way to grow patience is to have your patience tested, the only way to become better at follow-through is to give yourself opportunities to follow through.

Which means comittment.

Which is risky.

Because what if I fail, like I've failed so many times before?  What if I cause more damage by promising and then not showing up, than I would have if I would have sat back and let someone else do it?

But what if I don't do it?  What if I don't act?  Well, I'll be bored.  And I'll miss about a gazillion opportunities to do awesome things.  And I won't have mattered much.  Because while you need a flash-in-the-pan person every now and again, what people really need are people who stay.  Who perseveres with them.  Who are dependable and who show up, time and time again.  

I want to be a person like that, but its risky.  If I screw up in an important situation, I'm likely not ever going to be allowed back within the "circle of trust", you know what I'm sayin'?

Too bad. 

I'm risking it.

First, I refuse to let this crowdfunding thing die.  If you can/did give, that's fantastic.  Seriously.  I'm a fan-o-yours.  But even if you didn't, could you please share?  Tweet, facebook, pin, whatever works for you.  The more people who see it, the  more likely we are to actually reach that goal!  And keep those sweet comments coming on the page, I'm going to include them for Nicole when we actually fund this thing!

Second, I partnered up with a teacher friend of mine to provide snacks for her 4th graders.  Some of them don't have snacks to eat at snacktime.  A lot of those same kids didn't have breakfast and likely won't have dinner.  Hungry 9 year-olds doesn't sit well with me.  And although I knew there was a chance I could do it once and stop, I don't want to.  Its been about 6 weeks now that I've gotten granola bars and fruit ready for those kids.  I'm loving it!  I know I'm doing something tangible to love on them.  Hopefully, with their full bellies, they're being a bit more 'have for my teacher friend, as well!  I'm going to do this until the end of the school year.  I am.  And the kids, well, they ask about more when the supply runs low, so I know they're counting on me.  

Third, I've made some new friends lately.  Which sounds all butterflies and sunshine, but its also scary-making.  New friends means new demands on time and more people not to let down.  (And, dear new friends, if you're reading this, I'm glad to have to deal with the "problem" that is your friendship!)  But all the same, its easier to not have anyone counting on you.  Too bad.  I'm risking the fact that they might not like me as much as they thought they would, or that they might expect me to make time for them (as any good friend should, I know).  I'm risking the fact that I might blow it and get hurt.  Because its worth it.

So those are my risks for this week.  That's where I'm putting myself out there.  What risky business have you gotten yourself into?  Are you awesome at follow-through?  Teach me your ways!

<3 M.

p.s.- I don't know what happened with the font midway through.

Please ignore it :)

Risky Business :: #RiskRejection

So I have a bloggy friend.  One that I've actually taken the steps to meet in real life (IRL, in case you were wondering what that acronym stood for).  And she's fabulous.  The kind of friend who you instantly feel at home with, even if, hypothetically, you've just driven 3 hours with the top off of your Jeep in order to meet for the first time ever.  The kind of friend where, when you end up staying long past everyone else has gone home, just keeps chatting with you and it doesn't even feel weird.  Amy, she's my jam.

So Amy hit me up via email last week (and yes, I've been told that once I turn 30, I'm going to have to stop saying things like "hit me up" and "amazeballs" and "totes ridic") and said "hey, want to get rejected?  It'll quite possibly be demoralizing and definitely be scary."

She's compelling, that Amy.  So I said "Count me in!"

Here's the issue - rejection, or the fear of it, quite often keeps people from doing things.  Sometimes, the things that we're kept from doing coulda, woulda, been awesome.  We let fear hold us back from being movers and shakers and muffins-for-neighbors bakers.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again (mostly because I have to hear things 109 times before they sink in), allowing yourself (myself) to be ruled by unnamed fear is stupid and lousy and not what God wants for you.  

In order to fight that fear of rejection, Amy watched some video by some guy (it was much more legit than I'm making it seem, I promise) (also - I'm going to have to stop saying "legit" too, apparently), and he postured that in order not to be ruled by the fear of rejection, we ought to numb ourselves to it, so that the fear has no power over our decisions or actions.  So a group of us banded together in order to get rejected.

Doesn't that sound like a party you want to join?  The hashtag is #RiskRejection, in case you really do!

Some of the people I'm joining up with are taking risks that seem big and really really risky and (honestly) some seem more important than mine.  But it doesn't matter.  What matters is answering with a "yes" whenever God says to do something, whenever your heart yearns for something that you aren't sure you'll be able to do, whenever you just can't shake the itch that "someone" really ought to be doing that, and that you'd love to but you're sure someone else should...

My risks seem.. small.  They do.  They're not huge, and they likely won't alter my entire life in one fell swoop.  But I'm going to take them all the same.  I'm going to put myself out there, and I will very assuredly get rejected.  I know I will, really.  But I'll take my lumps and try again, because I want to be held back no longer.  And if I can build up this immunity to fear, perhaps someday I'll see a big risk and I'll just up and take it.

My risky business:

• I'm submitting 3 papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals.  By May.  This is something I ought to do if I want to graduate with my PhD.  I know this isn't something a lot of people talk about, so here's a breakdown of how it goes.
• You write the best paper you can, taking care to dot your i's and cross your t's and cite all of the proper people, but not too many because you have to produce something dazzling from your own brain.
• You submit your precious writing to the best journal in the appropriate area.
• You get rejected.  Sometimes with suggestions for improvement.  Sometimes with ridicule.
• You follow the suggestions, make changes, and re-submit.
• You get rejected again.
• You choose a slightly less prestigious journal, and submit.
• You get rejected again.
• Repeat.
• If you're lucky, eventually the rejection process stops and you get accepted somewhere.
• I'm going to do this 3 times in 5 months.  Because I'll be better for it, even if some of the "suggestions" might be scathing.
• I'm going to keep saying "yes" when God says "hey, why don't you..."
• Like last week when God said "Hey, why don't you contact that missionary you follow and offer to help them out in some way." and I did and I've never heard back... [crickets] sound so much like rejection.
• Crowdfunding.  That's right.  I've got a crowdfunding website live, and it's really out there, asking strangers for money.  Weird, right?  And also - If I don't meet my goal, I'll feel dumb.  And foolish.  And rejected.  BUT.  But.  I'm gonna do it.  So if you've stuck with me this long, you're seeing my real risk, the one that makes me nervous and sweaty-palmed and kind of want to say "how about I just don't include this bullet and I write my nice safe post about rejection" and then I see the irony in that for this post, so here we gooo!!

Join me here!
Or check out Nicole's blog here!

I've followed Nicole's blog for a few years, I think.  And she's fabulous.  She's witty and real and encouraging.  She's also raising a dashing little man who is 1 month younger than RG, and I'm eventually going to broach the subject of an arranged marriage, but that is neither here nor there.  The thing is this: Nicole has had some serious trouble with technology, and she's been burned (figuratively) by 2 laptops in the past 30 days.  She's out of luck in that department.  So she's decided to take a break from blogging.  Which brings me to the crowdfunding website.  I'd like to bless Nicole with a new laptop so that she can (1) keep encouraging women and sharing her words, (2) continue to grow her online business so she can continue to stay home with her boy, and (3) feel incredibly special.  It's a secret, right now, which isn't hard to keep since she's got limited access to blogs and things (see: broken laptop).

So that's my real risk.  I'm trying to do this thing.  And I feel about 1087% sure it won't work.  But I want it to, so I'm trying.  And now I'm sharing.  BOOM.  

If you're interested in helping Nicole out, the website is here.  And I'm going to share it on my facebook page, too.  But really, I'm just glad that you've stuck with me to the end of what seems to me to be a VERY long and winding post.  Thanks for hearing me.  Are you feeling risky?  Want to get rejected?  Link up with Amy, too!  There's still time!

<3 M.