If I wait until I’m ready, I’ll never do it.

If I wait until I’m ready, I’ll never do it.

That’s what I realized after our Athens Area Chamber of Commerce LEAD Athens retreat this past weekend.

An outdoor high ropes course with 34 mostly strangers? 😳

I’m not ready.

My turn to “zip away” on the zipline? 😬

Yikes, not ready.

Stand up and share about who I am in front of everyone in 3 minutes? 😨

Nope, not ready for that either.

Axethrowing? 😱

Ummm, not that either.

Thanks to the other participants and our amazing steering committee, in each of these moments, even though I didn’t feel ready yet, I did feel safe enough to try it.

And brave enough (hat tip, Kelly Klein).

Because everyone was so honest and encouraging, our weekend together was a powerful, heart-opening, and fun experience.

Looking around the room, I felt so honored and grateful to be part of this amazing group of people who want to make Athens a better place.

If we could learn to trust each other this quickly, I can only imagine what we’ll co-create in the next year.

And of course when it came time to say goodbye to everyone on Sunday… 😞

I wasn’t ready.

I’m so excited for all of the conversations, opportunities, and adventures [ready or not] that we’ll get into together this year.