Embracing Whimsy

In his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Don Miller meets a guy named Bob. Bob is an amazing character who has lived some great stories. You’ll have to read the book to really understand how cool Bob is and what his life is all about. But, today’s quote comes from a conversation between Don and Bob…

I asked Bob what was the key to living such a great story…he didn’t think we should be so afraid to embrace whimsy. I asked him what he meant by whimsy, and he struggled to define it. He said it’s that nagging idea that life could be magical; it could be special if we were only willing to take a few risks.

What a great point! Life IS magical…and we DO miss it so often. I wrote about Taking It All In in another post. That post was about how we take so much for granted – all the beautiful, wonderful things that God has provided…the sunset, the fact that we can breathe, how great it is to be a parent, that we are free to worship whenever and however we choose, etc. etc. etc. We miss these awesome things because we’re too wrapped up in everything else.

And, then, think about how many OTHER magical things we’re missing because we are afraid to take risks. Not just these things we’re taking for granted, but the things and feelings and experiences that we’re not seeing/doing/feeling/experiencing because we’re too afraid to take a chance. I’ve mentioned this before, but I wrote a book a couple years ago called Married to Jesus. It was a HUGE risk to take the leap to 1) write a book 2) print a book and 3) self-promote a book, which now includes a random speaking engagement every once in a while. If I hadn’t followed what I felt was a drive to write that book, I would have NEVER had the chance to do all this! And, not only was it a great experience for me, but what’s awesome to hear is when someone tells me they read the book and it had an impact on their life or their wife’s/husband’s life, or they had a similar experience in their life and it’s great to relate to someone who’s gone through the same thing.

When I hear those kinds of stories, I think about the fact that there’s a reason and a plan for everything – and if we don’t follow through with what God is putting before us (ie. “that nagging feeling that life could be magical; it could be special if we were only willing to take a few risks”), there’s another person’s story that’s missing a chapter. Life’s a big ol’ puzzle, and if I don’t put my piece into play, then there’s at least four other pieces that are left hanging.

A friend of mine emailed me the other day about a web-based business idea in the mountain biking industry. Without thinking too much about it, I said, “Let’s do it.” In the past, I would have been too concerned about time and money and a million other things; but, as I mentioned in What’s Your Story Going to Be About, I think my story needs to involve much less fear and a lot more risk taking…especially when there is a potential for the gospel to be shared!