Ask. Believe. Receive.

I struggle with confidence sometimes. I have a hard time believing in the old proverb, “Good things come to those who wait.” Then I’m surprised when great stuff happens.

Those three sentences wrap up this past week for me. As much as I accomplished, I felt like it wasn’t enough. I’ve paid too close attention to the stats and figures of this site. I haven’t been patient.

That said, I’ve had two great insights and inspirations this week.

Freedom.

Tuesday I stayed home all day hanging out with our three-year old son, Beale. Then his older brother and sisters got home, and we rushed off to dance rehearsal. That left me with three kids 2o minutes from home for 1 and a half hours. I don’t know if you’ve ever been with 3 kids 20 minutes from home, but  you’ve got to come up with something to do.

We ran a couple of errands, went by  Starbucks, and then to a park. As they were playing (in between fighting with each other) at the park, I sat on a bench in the sun and read a magazine.

In that moment, I thought to myself, “This is what I want.” Freedom. I want the freedom to take my kids to the park and sit in the sun.

Despite what I had just written, for several days before and since that moment I stressed about multiple things relating to this site and life. I haven’t enjoyed simply being where I’m at. I think I need to be reminded that though my word/goal for this year is “freedom,” it’s up to me to see it happen.

I chose that moment to be in that moment, and simply enjoy it. I’m glad I did, and I plan to do it more often.

Ask. Believe. Receive.

In a couple of days, you are going to watch a short video by Chris Billey on a new marketing plan he is implementing in his photography business. As I was watching the video, I noticed a little note tacked to the wall behind him. The note has three words written on it:

• Ask
• Believe
• Receive

I wrote them down. I thought about those words, in that order. For me it has several meanings. One is spiritual and the other practical. Though when it comes down to it, both are very practical.

As I’ve stated before, I have a strong faith. Those three words are fundamental to what I believe. You ask. You believe. You receive. Those words have been twisted and contorted throughout the years by people who want to use them to their own advantage, but they remain the core of what my faith is.

I started out by saying I struggle with confidence, which means I worry. I have to catch myself, stop, and implement those three words in my life. Ask. Believe. Receive.

Practically, it works on a business level too. You ask for a sale, you believe that it’s a good deal, and you receive a positive response. It doesn’t always work out like that, but more times than not it does. Usually, when it doesn’t we haven’t followed through with the asking, believing or receiving.

Wrapping it up.

This week I was feeling worried and concerned about everything, but I continued to work despite those feelings. I tried to enjoy my moments when I had them. I asked, believed, received. I continued to work.

I prepared a post for Friday that I thought was good, but didn’t have a lot of expectation for – charge what you’re worth. It blew up (I couldn’t stop following the stats, though I’m still working on breaking that habit).

I received.