I figured out what I want to be...

By Bridget Moore

I almost didn’t share this blog. It is very personal and honestly has nothing to do with our farm life. However, I felt a tug to share this with all of you. So here I am, being vulnerable and sharing something I wrote the other day when I was deep in thought. It all just hit me like a ton of bricks. So here it is…

I think I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Yes, I am already 36 years and counting but I think I finally figured it out!

I want to be an encourager!

I want to encourage others to do what they DREAM of.

To encourage others to GO FOR THEIR DREAM.

To encourage others to BELIEVE in THEMSELVES.

To encourage others to take the leap of faith.

To encourage others to face their fears.

To encourage others that they are NOT ALONE.

To encourage others to see themselves in the LIGHT that so many of us already see in them!

To encourage others to face their challenges.

To encourage others to take chances.

To encourage others to fail and fall so they can get back up and learn and grow and move forward and onward.

To encourage others to use their fear to succeed!

To encourage others to be their crazy authentic unique AWESOME selves!

To encourage others to make new friends and keep the old!

To encourage others to share their time, talents, skills, gifts!

To encourage others to dance in the rain.

To encourage others to contribute to life in order to see the change they want to in the world!

To encourage others to find solutions no matter the problem!

To encourage others to find joy even on the hardest days!

To encourage others to LOVE THEMSELVES!

To encourage others to see that they were made perfectly the way GOD intended them to be and to see it and be it!

To encourage others to read, write, sing, dance, laugh, and play!

To encourage others to allow themselves to feel their emotions and be okay going through each and every one of them.

To encourage others to see the beauty in each and every day.

To encourage others to see the sky is the limit.

To encourage others not to hold themselves back.

To encourage others in all areas of life!

I want to be an encourager all the days of my life!

Oh, yea, and to be my own encourager! Cause actions speak louder than words and I am still learning how to encourage myself. I am truly my hardest, worst critic but I want to be my own encourager too!

No one can encourage me, like I can encourage myself!

No one can work on me, like I can work on myself.

No one can change me, like I can change myself.

No one can inspire me, like I can inspire myself.

No one can motivate me, like I can motivate myself.

I am in charge of myself, my emotions, my feelings, my actions, my ina

ctions, my flaws, my reactions…all of me.

I get a LOT of help from the Lord who will forever be my Shepherd and leads me CONSTANTLY because I am always wandering. I am always wandering because I am ever changing as my life continues as I grow older, life changes, experiences give different perspective, everything keeps moving and so do I. I wander but I have a Shepherd who leads me and redirects me over and over and over. His patience is unwavering. He is my true inspiration and my true encourager!

I want to be an encourager! No job defines me. There is always work to be done in life. And many types of jobs to be done. I have been a Nanny, a babysitter, a construction clean up crew, a youth group volunteer, a fast-food server, a concession stand worker, an aerobics instructor, a recreations desk worker, a corrections officer, a security officer, a deputy, a daycare provider, a farmer, and so much more. I use to think these things defined who I was or who I was supposed to be. I thought I’d retire doing some of them. I thought if I wasn’t working I wasn’t making a difference. I was wrong. Life is NOT about what you “DO.” And we should all stop asking each other, “what do you do” or “what does your spouse do.” Honestly, I don’t care what they “do,” I care about who they are as a person!

I remember when I was elementary, middle, high school, even college age; I would ask people what they liked to do for fun. I asked what their favorite color was, sports team, book, author, singer, dancer, etc. I asked what their hobbies were. I was interested in them! I even would ask questions about their families. If they had siblings. I wanted to know as much as I could about them. But I didn’t ask them, “what do you do” and frankly I don’t remember ever asking “what do your parents do.” I wanted to know the person they were. Their traditions, their favorite past-time, their favorite memories, who they were. What they loved. What brought them joy and happiness. What made them “tick.”

What changed? When did I start to ask, “what do you do?” And why does that matter? I suppose a big part of it was trying to get to know people once I was an adult. But knowing what someone’s job is honestly doesn’t tell me much about the person. Sure I could and do make assumptions. But what good does that do? NONE cause I am assuming, aka making an a** out of U and ME! ASS-U-ME! ASSUME! Ugh. I want to get out of that bad habit of asking that question, “what do you do.” I want to replace that with a different question…like, “what are your ambitions in life?” Or “what makes you happy? What brings you joy? What is a dream of yours but you feel as though it is just a dream?”

What if I started to ask deep, meaningful questions to people? How would they react? How would they feel? What if I asked deep meaningful questions followed by encouragement? What would people think? How would people feel? What would people do? We all want only the best in life. So why do we all hold back? What are we holding back from? Have we reached our potential? Or do we still have untapped potential? Why do we feel the need to hold others back? Why do we feel the need to throw in our opinions when people aren’t asking for them? I don’t know about you but I am guilty of doing that and then later thinking to myself, “why did I give that advice when I don’t follow that, wow, am I a hypocrite.” I’m so guilty. I don’t know why I do that. I only know a minuet part of that person compared to their entire life story. Why do I sometimes act like or feel like I know it all?! Ugh, I am so sorry my friends’. I am still learning. I truly think ALL of you are wonderful! I always have! I love people! Adore people! God gave me the gift of that! But I am still learning a LOT about people; heck, even about myself. Constantly learning. Ever evolving. I don’t know everything nor will I EVER know anything it feels at times. Funny how that works.

And here I am thinking, praying, hoping, someday I can be a writer (author), a motivational speaker, an entrepreneur and so much more. But when I look at all of it. Those are again “jobs” or work, but what is truly in my heart, in the depths of my entire life and all that has ever mattered to me was to be an encourager!

That is what I want to be when I grow up. When I grow up in 5 minutes from now, in a year from now, in 20 years from now, until I die! And if I’m honest with myself, since I can remember (so my whole life) that is all I ever wanted to be, an encourager.

So cheers to finally figure it out! And now to continue to shoot for the stars in being an encourager for the rest of my life.