The First Step

I remember the whisper.  “Go West”.  I giggled to myself at first because all I could think about at that time was “Go West Young Man” not knowing what it was a reference to although I had heard it a million times, making the thought of driving West almost a cliche.

I heard the whisper again.  “Go West”.

The second time I heard it was so powerful in the way it shook me, yet was only heard as a whisper.

Nevermind that I was home for about 10 hours from a 2-week business trip in Newport Beach, CA that I had spent desperately trying to meet the ridiculous demands of a skincare manufacturer that we had distributing rights with.  Nevermind that I was home sick and really just wanted to take a breath and kick it with my girlfriend and English Bulldog, Zoei.

No, this was “that”voice.  That voice being the voice of God and to this day, the way things have come together to offer me more failure, disappointment, and frustration that I have ever experienced I know for a fact that it was God’s voice because of all of the many miracles that have taken place that has made each failure, disappointment, and frustration one of the biggest blessings of my life.

I kissed my girlfriend, said “I have to get the hell (probably used a worse word) out of here” and off I went.  I did not know what was in store for me but I knew I could not ignore the voice or the overwhelming feeling of excitement and peace.

I made it to Denver, hung out a few days, got caught in a Spring blizzard (who knew that was a real thing?), then carried on to Las Vegas for a week.  The entire time I was on the journey I really had no idea what I was doing but I took advantage of my time in each location to work, network and try to be as productive as possible.

“Go West”.

I left Las Vegas and it only seemed natural to head to Los Angeles after that and as soon as I arrived I stopped at the Equinox in West Hollywood.  After I finished my workout in the most surreal gym environment I had ever experienced, I walked outside and this rush of euphoria hit me so hard it paralyzed me.

“This is home”.

That was just over 2 years ago and in that time I almost died, became homeless, lost and refound the love of my life, lost and refound my dog Zoei, went to jail 2 times, found Christ, stepped into my purpose and for the first time in my life became free of the shackles, hang-ups, and fear of failure.

I learned to live and it took taking the first step.

Taking the first step towards your destiny, to the life of your dreams does not mean that you will not have failures.  Heck, if you are afraid to fail, do not take the first step.

I was not a Follower when I took that first step and that doesn’t mean that God was not trying to speak to me or get my attention.  I tried and tried to have a relationship with God and struggled mightily because I was not willing to surrender and give up control of my life.  I thought I could do things on my own.  Yes, I believed the “Bull in a China Closet” approach was the right way for so long and I was wrong.

I am not sure what the last 2 years would have been like if I had allowed Jesus to take the wheel earlier on however I do know this.  There will be many steps in the process of reaching your destiny and it is much easier taking the first step with Him leading the way than it is on your own.  You will experience failures and those failures will ultimately lead you to the life of your dreams.

Take the first step.

Thank you for reading and if you ever need prayer or encouragement along your journey, reach out to me at livemana@icloud.com.  God Bless!