As some of you may have seen on my Facebook status about a week ago, I had quite a revelation on my yoga mat. I’ve certainly noticed how my attitude affects what postures I can and can’t do. But, this time I really noticed how much I think, “I can’t do that” while doing my practice. I really do it quite often. When I think the “I can’t” thoughts, I definitely can’t do whatever posture I’m attempting.

I know I’m not the only one with the “I can’t” attitude. I encounter it all the time when I’m working with church leadership teams. Most often, young people and the adults who work with them will dream up wonderful new ideas for making their ministry exciting and new. Almost immediately, the “I can’t” attitude will sink in. Then, I’ll hear: “It’s a great idea BUT we don’t have enough time, money, people, support, etc.” The great idea dies there.

Given that our attitudes can profoundly affect what we do, I wonder how often we defeat ourselves and our churches before we even try something. What are we so afraid of? Failure? Although failure is a painful process, I know from personal experience that you learn the most from it. So, the new ministry idea fails? Try again with much greater knowledge about how something will work. What’s the big deal?

Jesus didn’t really seem like the greatest success story at first. The Christian story is all about light emerging from darkness, death bringing life. If we go into our ministries, or our spiritual practices, with a positive intention, perhaps we will learn to succeed beyond our imaginations rather than cutting ourselves off before we have the chance to try.

So, declare with me the year of “I can”! I can’t wait to see what grows!