The Courage to Let Go and Move Forward

It was a spring afternoon, and I was determined to prove something.

My husband stood next to me in the driveway, arm extended, patient as ever. The hoverboard — purchased for our granddaughter — sat on the concrete waiting. I was 55 years old. I had raised four kids, founded a non-profit, and navigated more unexpected seasons of life than I could count.

And I was absolutely terrified of this plastic disc.

But here’s the thing about me: I am fiercely determined to be a gregarious Grammy. I refuse to be the grandmother who watches from the lawn chair. So I grabbed my husband’s hand, lifted one foot, then the other, and wobbled my way onto that board like my dignity depended on it.

What happened next surprised me completely.

The Hoverboard Doesn’t Lie

As I found my balance — shakily, slowly — I began to picture myself moving forward. And then, somehow, I did. The board responded not to what I was doing with my feet, but to what I was envisioning in my mind.

Neighbors would stop and ask, “How do you make it go forward?”

Honestly? I’m still not sure I can explain it. Thinking about moving forward made it move forward. Thinking about going backward sent me backward. The direction I was heading on the outside was quietly being set by something happening on the inside.

I took that thing down the street. More than once. And I became — if I do say so myself — somewhat masterful at it. For a 55-year-old Grammy, that counts as a win.

I had found my rhythm on this hoverboard and I’d like to help you find your rhythm as well. Just download my FREE Rhythms of Renewal Mini Guide to help you discover God’s life-giving rhythms for yourself.  

The Other Hoverboard

But here’s what I kept thinking about as I rode.

Almost 30 years earlier, I had stepped onto a very different kind of hoverboard — the hoverboard of life. A shaky new season, a task that felt far beyond my abilities, and an urgent need to find something stable to hold onto while I learned to balance.

I tried holding onto the things the world offered. I kept falling.

It was Jesus — and the people He kept placing in my life — who became the steady support I needed to find my footing.

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We desire to be brave souls — the land of promise is before us. But fears arise. There are giants. So we play it safe. We wander in circles of sameness.

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Once I found my balance, something else happened. I began to form a vision for where I actually wanted to go. I wanted to launch four children into healthy adulthood. I longed for them to know what good relationships looked like — with friends, with future spouses, with God. I wanted to break the cycle.

Because I had inherited one. Failed relationships, single parenting, infidelity, betrayal, bitterness — these were the patterns woven into both sides of my family tree. I didn’t know how to build something different. I had never seen it modeled. I didn’t even have a map.

What I had was a direction. And a God who honors the woman who fixes her eyes on where she wants to go and starts moving.

A simple way to get started crafting this vision might be to focus on ONE WORD. Check out the blog post Who Am I Becoming: One Word to Clarify Your Identity.

Circles of Sameness — Or Something New?

The ride wasn’t smooth. We went forward, backward, sideways. There were painful tumbles and unexpected detours. There were seasons I look back on now and wince a little. But the thinking — the vision, the forward-facing intention — kept setting our family’s course even when the execution was messy.

Proverbs 29:18 says it plainly: without a vision, the people perish. Bruce Lee said it another way: as you think, so you are.

The direction you’re heading on the outside is being shaped by what you’re holding onto on the inside.

So the question worth sitting with isn’t can you get on the hoverboard. It’s — which direction are you leaning?

Questions Worth Asking Before You Step On

Maybe you’re in the middle of something new and unnerving. Maybe life circumstances have thrust you into a season you didn’t choose. Maybe you’ve been standing at the edge of the board for a while now, wanting to step on but not quite sure how.

These questions won’t give you a perfect plan. But they’ll help you find your direction:

• Where do I want to be in five years? Not what do I want to have — who do I want to be?
• Who is following me on this journey? Who do I have influence over — my kids, my team, the women around me?
• Is the way I’m navigating life right now teaching them what I actually want them to learn?
• What will I feel if nothing changes? What does my life look like in five years if I keep doing everything the same?
• What is one step I could take — just one — to start moving forward?
• Who will I hold onto while I find my balance? And is that person steady enough to hold?

No matter where you are on the journey, finding support and the right resources is what turns good intentions into actual forward momentum.

You Were Made for More Than Circles

Here is what I know after riding this hoverboard for a few decades now.

The women who move forward aren’t the ones who have it all figured out. They’re the ones who grab someone’s hand, lift a wobbly foot, and decide that standing still is no longer an option.

You don’t have to have the whole route mapped. You just have to lean in the direction you want to go — and trust that the God who is the Way will meet you in the moving.

As a life-leadership coach, I have the privilege of helping women find the courage, craft the vision, and develop the strategy to gain the confidence and stability they need to move forward. If you’re ready to figure out what your next step looks like, reach out today for a FREE Discovery Call.

What’s keeping you from stepping onto the hoverboard of life — and moving in the direction you actually want to go?