Stop Waiting Until You Feel Ready

How many things have you told yourself you’ll do someday?

When you lose the weight.

When you finish the degree.

When the kids are older.

When work slows down.

When you have more money, more confidence, more time, or finally feel like you have everything figured out.

But here’s what I’ve learned: ready is a moving target.

There will always be another reason to wait. Another hurdle. Another voice, sometimes someone else’s, but often our own, whispering, Maybe not yet.

For a long time, I listened to that voice.

When I was younger, I worried a lot about what other people thought of me. When I moved to Houston and began my teaching career, I knew I didn’t want to be the shy little girl I had once been. I was ready to figure out who I was.

Except, at first, I thought figuring out who I was meant figuring out how to fit in.

I looked at the teachers who seemed popular and confident and thought maybe I should be more like them. I dressed like everyone else. I tried to like some of the same music. I adjusted pieces of myself because I thought belonging meant becoming more like the people around me.

And it was exhausting.

Because no matter how hard you work at becoming someone else, eventually your real self starts asking to be let back into the room.

I finally had to give myself permission to stop trying to fit a mold I was never designed to fit.

And that changed everything.

I began to understand that being different wasn’t something I needed to overcome. The things that made me different were actually some of the best parts of me. I could have big dreams. I could take risks. I could try something even when there was absolutely no guarantee it would work.

And yes, sometimes I have fallen flat on my face.

But I would rather fall chasing something that matters to me than stand perfectly still waiting until I’m certain I won’t fail.

That idea has become an important part of what UNCOMMON Jewelry means to me.

I don’t want to create jewelry simply because it looks like what everyone else is wearing. I want a woman to see a bracelet and think, That speaks to me.

Maybe everyone else wouldn’t choose it.

Maybe it’s a little bolder than what she normally wears.

Maybe it represents a part of herself she’s finally ready to stop hiding.

She puts it on anyway.

Because what we wear can become a small declaration of who we are, and sometimes, of who we’re becoming.

I want an UNCOMMON woman to look down at her wrist in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday and remember:

I don’t have to fit someone else’s mold.

I don’t have to wait until everything is perfect.

I don’t need permission from anyone else to become who I know I can be.

And most importantly:

I don’t have to feel completely ready to begin.

Maybe there is something you’ve been waiting to do.

Apply for the position.

Go back to school.

Take the trip.

Start the business.

Wear the outfit.

Walk into the room.

Tell the truth.

Whatever your thing is, perhaps the question isn’t, Am I ready?

Maybe the better question is:

Am I willing to take the first step anyway?

Because the woman you are becoming isn’t waiting somewhere in the future for you to finally get everything right.

She’s already there.

And maybe it’s time to let her show up.

Wear your story. Be UNCOMMON.

Cheri