A Talk to the Father Patrick Peyton, CSC Guild at YES Centre in Nsambya, Kampala - Uganda
We each have opposing sides of success: fear of failure and new challenges that come with success. Here is a list of seven "tools" derived from my own experience.
1. Recognize and articulate your fears.
There was a time that I struggled with deciding what to do with my life. My passion to become a priest seemed unreasonable and scary to me, but when I tried on other prospective careers, they didn't fit. "I have a dream to be a priest and it dwarfs me, but it's my dream, damn it!" A dream can be intimidating, seemingly impossible and out of reach, but I encourage you to reach for them anyways: "Our dreams derive from our imagination. We own them. We cannot let them defeat us."
2. Reach out to your stretcher-bearers…at least four who would carry you to safety and remind you that you aren't alone.
"Stretcher bearer" reference comes from a gospel story where two men carried their sick friend, bearing him on his stretcher, to a place where Jesus was healing the sick. Jesus saw how much the stretcher-bearers loved their friend and all they had gone through to get him to that place, and so Jesus healed their friend.
I embody this "tool" in my own life.
3. Ask questions of yourself, for yourself – and listen for the answers.
"There is so much pressure to define ourselves," "We can and should be able to define ourselves by many things!"
4. Do not underestimate the power of writing your goals and dreams down.
I recall in August of 2002 writing in my diary about what kind of work I wanted to do. The list included my desire to spend two weeks in Uganda. Mere weeks after writing that list, I was called to the seminary with the Holy Cross, which required me to spend three years of Philosophy and a year of Novitiate in Uganda.
5. Breathe. Meditate. Be still with your soul.
Throughout my years of studies ain Uganda and in Kenya I turned to many people and places to seek for guidance in my self-exploration: my confessor, my family, my friends, my professors, my Catholic faith, different self help as well other books I had read and quotations that spoke to me and above all to my spiritual director who encouraged me to pray daily and without ceasing.
6. Go for it and always allow failure to be an option.
As we reach for what we want, we fear failure. We fear being told "no" and we fear not being good enough. But "without the possibility of being bad, you cannot be extraordinary." I encourage you to take risks as you dare to reach for what you want without expecting to be perfect. You should "always have perfection to work towards. It gives perspective."
7. Step forward and repeat it all. With each step and challenge, expect to learn these lessons again and again.
"Step and repeat." "It doesn't get comfortable, but it does get familiar." I pray today that these words of encouragement are inspiring, revealing, heartfelt, brave, gentle and wise for you.
