Without Purse or Script, Go

What are the mental messages you replay that list all the reasons you can’t pursue your dreams? What are the vital resources you lack to experience success? Do you lack sufficient money to start your own business? Do you lack life experiences to write that novel weighing on your spirit? Is it that you don’t have enough talent or time to bring the painting in your mind to life? Why haven’t you started approaching funders for the investment fund you want to start?

Know this: You already have everything you need to succeed in achieving your dreams. “Without purse or script” is a phrase associated with the Biblical apostles who were ordered to evangelize and serve the world without clear directions or guaranteed resources to complete their mission. I learned about this expression today at Agape, and it made me determined to leap headfirst into pursuing my dreams without worrying about the purse or the script to accompany them.

The “purse” is any resource you think is vital to being successful—which is usually money. I refuse to let my student loans or a low-paying salary keep me from pursuing a career based on content creation and influencing people’s lives. I believe that if you follow your bliss, your needs will be met. It’s been the story of my life up to this point (although I forget to remember sometimes), and I can’t wait to see how it plays out over the next few years as I enter the working world full-time. Traveling “without purse” means not letting the money you do or don’t have keep you from moving forward in the pursuit of your dreams.

I think of the “script” in two ways—as a map telling you where to go as well as the “scripts” we often hear repeated throughout our lives. They are words created by someone else that we then repeat to ourselves and make our own truth as an actor does with a script. In pursuing your dreams—whatever they may be—there probably won’t be a clear path. If you want to be a partner at a consulting or law firm, there is a clear path to getting there. After a certain number of years on the job, high performance in your roles, and the right connections and opportunities to showcase yourself, you become partner. On the other hand, there is no clear path to becoming a successful actress. You could do all the things you are “supposed” to do such as taking headshots, auditioning for parts, and acting in small productions—and it still might not work out the way you want it to. However, your path to your dreams has to start somewhere—which is right where you are at this moment. Take a step.

The second kind of script includes the so-called truisms that we let stand in the way of us and our dreams. For me they are:

• “I can’t work for myself. Then I won’t have health insurance!”
• “No writer ever makes enough money to actually live. I’ll end up a poor, lonely alcoholic!”
• “How can I  consider working a job for $25,000 when I’ll owe half of that in loan repayments every year!”

I had all three of those scripts challenged this weekend while chatting with friends and colleagues, and my eyes have truly been opened. I can have affordable health insurance as a freelancer. Some writers do make enough money to just write. And if I make a paltry salary, I can defer my loans due to economic hardship or forbear them due to an overly high debt burden for up to three years (which might push me to the edge of my faith if that were to happen).

I have no excuses left. And it’s a wonderful feeling. I now plan to travel toward my dreams without purse or script. Please join me.

Related posts:

1. Learning to Live With My Loans When I graduate in May, I will owe Pomona...
2. Being Great vs. Being Well-Rounded Throughout life, society is constantly urging young people to...
3. Five Things I Fear When I begin to doubt myself, I don’t shop....
4. Don't Compete with Your Friends Me and my friends are big dreamers and like...
5. Focus vs. Discipline I published this post with the permission of my...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tagged as: barriers, Bible, bliss, dreams, joseph campbell, loans, mission, money, myths, obstacles, student loans, writer