never underestimate the life lessons you’ll learn on a starbucks run. in this episode, lindsey shares a valuable lesson she learned from her friend, mayor john. this episode will inspire and encourage you to take the risk and take steps towards the opportunities in front of you.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Hello my friends, and welcome to episode number 132 of the daring romantics with Lindsey Eryn, and I’m Lindsey Eryn.

so — welcome to April! guys, this is my favorite month of the year — because it is my birthday month, but also, this is the season that I call “Primavera” where anything can happen, and it can happen suddenly.

I love spring so much, and I just love the word “Primavera” because honestly it sounds a little bit more romantic and Whimsical than “spring.” but, that’s just also kinda how it is, whenever you take an English word and put it in a foreign language — it always sounds a little bit more fancy, am I right?

But back to Primavera – I just want to encourage you to stay hopeful in this season. I know that so many people right now are kind of feeling tired and weary, and feeling like they are saying the same prayers and wishing the same wishes, and believing for the same thing.

And, I just want to encourage you to stay in that place of expectation, to stay in that place of hope — because, in the same way that winter suddenly becomes spring, the circumstances that you’re experiencing in your life, the situations that you’re in, can suddenly change.

The dry season that you are in is almost over — your winter is about to become spring. so, keep your eyes open and keep your heart expectant. I’m so confident that the fulfillment of Dreams is coming, and it’s so near for so many of us.

so, my encouragement is this — is that even when it hurts, even when it feels painful to continue to believe, stay expectant. You’ve been carrying this dream in your heart for some time — and it’s not by accident, and it hasn’t been to tease you. It’s been for a purpose. so don’t give up on it right before you experience your breakthrough. everything can change in an instant, in one breath, in the blink of an eye.

so, hold on to that. Push through your tiredness, push through your frustration, and your disappointment, push through your questions and your disbelief. and stay persistent in your faith — because this is primavera, the season where anything can happen.

I am so confident, my friend, that we are going to see divine Miracles in this season, we’re going to see renewal and old things come to life in new ways, so, stay expectant and let’s make the most of this season by being present and by being full of Hope, because I can feel it! a shift is coming and I am so excited for all of us to experience it.

Okay, so let’s dive into today’s topic — which is about my Starbucks run that happened this morning.

if you follow me on Instagram, I teased this in my stories, and was talking about how I had an experience at Starbucks today, and how I was talking to my best friend about it, and she literally was laughing, because I took what happened at Starbucks and I somehow ended up with a life lesson that I feel is very relative to all of our lives.

So, I thought — obviously, I cannot keep this life lesson to myself, I have to share it, I have to make this into a podcast episode because, who knows, maybe you need to know this — maybe you need to hear this — maybe you need to be reminded of what I’m about to share with you.

okay, so backstory. I have been going to the same Starbucks down the street from my house for the past 10 years. and, every single day, I see the same people.

And, pre-pandemic, I used to take my laptop and go cozy up at Starbucks for a couple of hours just to get out of the house and switch up my environment. by doing this for 10 years, I naturally became friends with a lot of the other locals who were regulars there. and, let me tell you, the crew at Starbucks is a tight-knit crew. I should also tell you, the crew is mostly made up of senior citizens.

but they are the most amazing, genuine, and thoughtful people on the planet — because, without fail, pre-Pandemic, every single day, they would save me a seat and make sure that I had a good seat by an outlet plug, so that whenever my computer died, I would have to leave and go back home right away — I could just hang out and still keep on working there at Starbucks. but, all that to say, I love this crew of people, I love the regulars at Starbucks, they have a special place in my heart.

And, with any group, there’s always a ringleader, and this group of Starbucks-regulars is no exception.

There is this older man named John, who I have dubbed “Mayor John” because literally he knows Everybody by name, knows what they do, knows so many details about their lives, and he’s just the life of the party.

I wish that each of you could meet him because he is honestly one of the most genuine and inspiring and intentional people that I have ever met. and, honestly — he’s the grandpa that we all need in our lives.

okay, so, since the pandemic started, the Starbucks crew has changed a little bit. and, instead of everybody going inside and reading a newspaper — the whole little crew comes around at 6:30 or so, and sits in a big circle outside of Starbucks and just hangs out for a little bit.

So, every single morning, without fail, after I workout, I go and grab my Starbucks drink and they’re there. the crew is there, and they are ready to party. and when I say they’re ready to party at 7 am, I truly mean it. like, those people are hooting and hollering already, at 7 am.

so, this morning when I went to get my drink, there just was a ton of people out there in the circle, and I just kind of felt overwhelmed and wasn’t necessarily in the mood to be Chatty Cathy, and so, I went into Starbucks and grabbed my drink — and was crossing my fingers that nobody would spot me as I was exiting the front door of Starbucks. And, I was not even 10 steps away from the front door, and I hear this soft, little, gentle hollering, saying, “hey! Hey, Lindsey! What are you doing? Come back here!”

and so, I turn around and it’s Mayor John. he was just waving his hand at me like, “you’re crazy — what are you doing leaving without saying hi?!”

and so, I walk on over to the circle, and John says, “did you think that you could really sneak out of here without saying hi?”

and so, I just laughed and made up some nonsense excuse about why I was in a hurry that morning. and he just laughed at me, and asked me how my app was doing, and we talked about birthday cake and Jello versus pudding and how do you eat your Jello — do you suck your Jello? Or do you chew your Jello? like, honestly, debating some of life’s biggest questions, you know?

after hanging out for about 10 minutes or so, I said goodbye, and I got back in my car, and I started driving home. and on the drive home, I Marco Polo’d Haven, and was telling her about this hilarious moment where John totally called me out for walking away. and, as I was relaying this story to her, I had this “aha” moment.

because, how often do we actually do this in our real lives? we see there’s a lot of people in a space, whether it be a social Gathering, or online, or in a specific industry, and somehow we convince ourselves that it’s okay if we don’t show up, or that we shouldn’t take up space, or that it’s too crowded if we join in, or that nobody will notice if we’re not there.

this morning as I approached Starbucks and I saw the circle, I literally thought to myself, “wow there’s a lot of people there this morning!”

and thought to myself that I could sneak into Starbucks and sneak out without being noticed and that my presence wouldn’t be missed.

And John called me out! — and showed me that my presence was wanted, that I belonged there. and, this simple moment hit me so hard this morning, because I think so often so many of us are praying and believing for opportunity — but when opportunity presents itself, and it’s sitting there in front of us, calling our name, we bypass it.

we come up with all of these excuses of why this isn’t the right opportunity or the right idea or the right timing or the right this, or the right that. we come up with excuses about how markets are oversaturated and there’s too many people doing the thing that we want to do or join in on, and that our presence just doesn’t matter.

But our excuses are not always factual. they are a rationalization that we make about ourselves, about people, about events, and about circumstances.

they are invented reasons that we create to defend our Behavior or our line of thinking, or to postpone taking action. Essentially, excuses are placing the blame of an internal problem on an external condition. we make excuses for things all the time because we want to avoid something — whether it’s the fear of failure, of embarrassment, the fear of success, or change, or uncertainty, or the fear of responsibility and making mistakes, or because of the fear of not having enough confidence.

However, if we are serious about achieving greatness, and living out our purpose, and making an impact in the world, then we cannot allow the excuses that come up in our minds to dictate our actions.

if we do, we’ll miss out on some of life’s greatest moments! the same moments and experiences and opportunities that we are praying and believing for. everything in life is a two-way street. I believe that the goodness of life will do its part and present us with opportunity, but at the same time, we have to say “yes” and take active steps towards that opportunity.

in the same way that in order to experience the opportunity of connection this morning that was literally sitting in front of me — I had to stop coming up with excuses and take steps towards that opportunity, the circle of people. and the reality is — regardless of the excuses that I came up with in my head, I know that I play a role.

it doesn’t matter how big that circle gets, I know that 7 am crew enjoys seeing me, and wants me there. I know that it’ll never be too crowded for me to pull up a chair. I have a place. I may not be the same age as them or have the same life experiences, but occasionally I come through with some really good witty remarks that gets them laughing. and I know that every morning at 7:05 am, that crew will be there, waiting for me. and even on the mornings where I have excuses, Mayor John will be there to vocalize that my presence matters, inviting me to take my place in the circle.

the thing is — opportunity doesn’t always sound like mayor john.

sometimes we don’t have that physical voice of opportunity hollering at us to turn around and come join in.

but regardless, when an opportunity belongs to us, and when it is designed for us, there’s often this pull inside of us that craves to be a part of it. and when we feel that subtle craving, we can’t ignore it — we have to pay attention and allow it to guide us. we have to leave behind our excuses and move with confidence that regardless of what we see or feel — we belong. because our presence matters.

yes, you – your presence matters!

there is something divinely special about you. you see the world in a unique way. your story, your life experiences, your background — they don’t disqualify you from the opportunity at hand.

no, on the contrary — they perfectly qualify you. they give you an unprecedented advantage.

we have to shift our perspective and our mindset, and begin to see life like the circle outside of Starbucks — recognizing that there is room for us to pull up a chair. And, if we show up, it’ll matter! it’ll create impact and enrich the lives of the people around us.

Instead of thinking of all the reasons why we shouldn’t show up, we ought to be thinking about all the reasons why we should show up.

instead of thinking about how a room or Market is overcrowded — we ought to be thinking about how we can uniquely add value, or fill in the gaps for the people that were aiming to serve.

instead of thinking that the good things and opportunities that we see aren’t for us, we ought to be living by the belief that every good thing that we lay eyes on was intended for us.

instead of thinking that our presence doesn’t matter, we ought to be thinking of all the reasons why our presence is valuable, and look for ways that we can enrich the lives of people around us that feels natural to us.

there’s a world of opportunity and Endless Possibilities out there. but, we’ll never experience them if we’re too caught up in our own thoughts and feelings, making excuses.

we have to learn to tune out the excuses and to lean into the still quiet voice that is calling us towards opportunity. while each opportunity that comes our way doesn’t come with a mayor john hollering at us, we do have our spirits that will lead us and guide us and speak to us if we listen.

so trust yourself. Trust your intuition. you are needed. your presence is essential. your passion, your heart, your mind, your creativity, your compassion — all of you.

So, don’t sit on the sidelines, questioning your place. you belong.

you are here, on purpose, for a purpose. so take on the challenge — to show up, to give up the excuses, to listen to your spirit. take on the challenge to follow the voice of opportunity, to pull up a chair and take action, and to ultimately use your gifts, your talents, your knowledge — to contribute something magnificent to the world around you.

and trust that as you do, everything will fall into place for you. I am confident that as you are faithful to take steps towards the opportunity at hand, that every tool and resource and connection you need will present itself, at just the right time.

Lastly, I dare you to trust that as you take the risk, and show up with strength and vulnerability, that you will not fail.

you will succeed in all of your efforts. and, along the way, I’m confident that you will create a wave of impact that is undeniable. you got this my friend! take steps towards opportunity — because there is magic in your bones.