The Power of the Mickey Mouse and the fear of leaving something often keeps us from moving forward.

When our children were 2 and 4, we decided we would take them to Disney World. The rule was they had to be potty trained, and we wanted to take them before we had to pay the full price.

The memories of the trip remind me that overall it went well; they enjoyed seeing the characters, riding the rides, etc. But there is one memory that sticks (and it was such a time-sucking memory we were able to get it on camera).

We were getting ready to go catch the bus to take us to the park. We rounded the corner to the bus stop, noticed it was already there, and began a faster pace to make it on time.

We were encouraging the kids to keep up when all of a sudden, we noticed Layne was no longer with us.

We turned around, and there she was, 30 feet back, hands on her hips, not moving.

“Come on! We’re going to miss the bus. If you want to see Mickey, we’ve GOT to go!”

No movement. She had taken her stance.

There were thoughts of picking her up and carrying her to the bus. But I always hated creating a scene as a parent, AND I would have felt soooooooooo bad for the rest of the people on the bus who were enjoying a nice, quiet morning.

No amount of persuasion convinced her to move. So ultimately, we had to go back and engage in conversation regarding “why” she was so unwilling.

“I forgot my Mickey, and I don’t want to see Mickey without Mickey.”

She would not move forward until she had all the “right things” with her to take on the day’s journey.

We often don’t make decisions about moving forward in life because we are unwilling to leave some things behind. We drag our feet, making decisions. We say no to new opportunities because of the uncertainty that lies ahead.

Metaphorically we put our hands on our hips and refuse to move, thinking we will stay “happy” if we remain where we are.

Yet stagnation does not bring happiness. And even if we have to leave some cherished things behind, as long as we are willing to move forward in the presence and connection with Love, good comes out of all things.

When Jesus called the disciples, it was not that they’d been sitting around WAITING to be asked to go on the journey. They were going through their everyday lives. Yet, when the ask came, they were willing to move.

Are you willing to move today? Or do you have something that you are clinging to that keeps you stuck where you are?

Ultimately we went back and got Layne’s Mickey Mouse. And we caught a later bus, and the day went off fine. BUT . . . we’ll never know what we missed because of the lost time retrieving the stuffed animal. (Truthfully, I’m sure we didn’t miss a ton. It’s Disney! It’s great all the time!) But . . . if we are unwilling to move in our lives, we do miss out on big things!