How comfortable would you be if the metal in your dream home was only strong enough to support the house during fair weather? You’d be uncomfortable and consider that house with the unreliable metal structure a poor investment of your time and money. You’d also find it unsafe during inclimate times and impractical for everyday use because of its unpredictability. When you ignore, depress or suppress your mettle you lose the ability to be reliable and structurally sound to yourself and to others. In other words, during those “hanging in there” moments when situations rock you, you don’t have the intestinal fortitude and wherewithal to push through and past them. Your structure is weak and unpredictable. Mettle builds character all-year round, in both good and bad times.

There are three things that threaten your journey to the great Emerald City of success. Not lions, tigers or bears but illusions, mirages and myths. Although they can cause devastating and sometimes fatal damage to your hopes, dreams and plans, if you summon the courage to resist their bravado, you can live successfully ever after.

You had your life all planned out. You knew what you were supposed to be when you grew up, where you were supposed to live, when you’d meet your soul mate, how long you’d work at your job before you moved on, how much money you’d save for retirement…but things changed. What happens when circumstances change and your plan was no longer in effect? What happens to your ambitions and goals? What happens to YOU?

When we “let ourselves go”, we lose the essence of who we are. We say to others that we exist only because we have to, not because we want to. By “letting go of ourselves”, we take bold and daring steps toward realizing our truest selves and achieving the freedom we desire.

2009 leaves all of us a little battle-tested and war torn. We can choose to stay grounded, lamenting all that we’ve lost or we can rise in 2010 like a phoenix – reborn anew to live again – take flight and “fly above” all the drama. Which will you choose?

Within each of us lies an inner strength, a deep-seated courage, and a “take the bull by the horns” attitude. It’s what makes the ordinary extraordinary. For some, this type of assertiveness is part of their dominant DNA. They display unabashed fearlessness every day. For others, it subconsciously and involuntarily surfaces during those “fight or flight” moments generally when “flight” is not an option. It rises like a phoenix from the proverbial ashes to defend, protect and rescue. Then there are those who make the conscious decision to tap into their assertive selves to do amazing, over the top, “no holds barred” things.

Consider that there are no two people alike in the entire world. There may be similarities and likenesses but there are no exactitudes. No one else in any corner of the world has our individual mix of ingredients: gifts, skills, talents, abilities, intelligence, wit, humor, strength, fortitude, ambitions, hopes, dreams, passions, etc. We are each custom made, special editions. We contain an intrinsic worth that make us uniquely and remarkably priceless. Why, then, do we devalue ourselves and our ability to accomplish extraordinary things?

“Getting in your own way” is, in essence, like traveling down a road and finding it blocked. You consult your maps and analyze the GPS for alternative routes, but considering the roadblock in front of you (its ominous size and weight compared to your stature), you determine the risks of travel too great and the reward of reaching your intended goal no longer significant. Instead of negotiating around the roadblock, you decide to turn away thus allowing the roadblock to determine your movement and wane your current and perhaps future intentions for forward travel. You can be so much more than what you are – and can travel further than you ever thought possible – if you remember to have faith in God, in yourself and in your talents, skills and abilities…and if you, get out of our own way.

Not all fairy tales end happily, not all days are sunny, and not all efforts result in success. Just like we are conditioned to prepare for the weatherman’s prediction of “a chance of rain” by carrying an umbrella, we need to prepare for life’s prediction of “a chance of failure” by preparing a contingency plan.