"Like the fear that grabs ahold ya, let it go"

I went surfing tonight.  Well, surfing is probably a strong word,  I did a lot of floating on my board, as the waves were just about non-existent, and I am definitely a beginner and am not one that can just catch any little wave that rolls by.  But, it wasn't just the size of the waves that was keeping me from surfing more than I did.  I don't know how many times I said out loud the phrase "oh, that would have been a good one" as I missed the few waves that were the right size. I missed them for different reasons.  A few times I was just daydreaming, but mostly I would just wait until it was too late. I would decide as it was passing me by that I should have realized that was a good one.  As I sat there rising and falling with the swells, it occurred to me that it was very symbolic of my life.

Like many of you, I have some form of a bucket list.  And, I feel I have been fairly realistic in the things I want to accomplish.  There are a few long shots that will require a lot of luck, but mostly things that are doable with some extra work.  One of them is the memoir I am finally writing. This memoir has been in the making for about ten years.  I have been thinking about it for a very long time but every time I sit to write, I chicken out.  So many reasons, but if I could pick out the main one, it is fear.  Fear of failure or fear of success, or fear of how others will react, or all three. Either way, I have let opportunities pass me by time after time thinking I would just catch the next one. But, opportunities aren't like airplanes landing every five minutes.  I have been careless.  And it's time for that to stop.

One of my favorite songs is by The Zac Brown Band and is entitled "Let it Go".  It captures why I'm writing this memoir.  There is a part that says:

"But you only get once chance at life to leave your mark upon it

And when a pony he comes riding by you better set your sweet ass on it"

I'm a Texas girl and straight-forward thinking is the way I like it.   Leave the sugar-coating for someone more fragile, becauseI don't have time for it.  Especially now.  I've wasted too much time as it is.

"Like a sweet sunset in Georgia, Let it go. Like the fear that grabs ahold ya, Let it go."

I would write more, but it have to get back to editing my memoir.  But, check out the song.  They are killer musicians.