For years I found myself falling into a rut because of one simple saying: “I can’t do that.” I wanted more for my life, but each opportunity felt more like a mountain than a molehill. I knew I wanted more, but my mindset didn’t let me get there. It was two words that initially unlocked the secret.
The straw that broke the reluctant camel’s back was an offer to sail across the Atlantic in a friend’s boat. My brain couldn’t fathom such an opportunity, and so my instant reaction was my normal, “I can’t do that.” I’ll never forget that moment because of his response: “Johanna, if you say ‘I can’t do that’ to all the opportunities that come your way, you’re going to miss out on some incredible stories.”
That day I chose two new words: “Why not?”
Saying “Yes” to everything never appealed to me. As a Christian woman, I always valued my ability for discernment and the calling to bring everything to God in prayer. “Why not?” allowed me the opportunity for freedom and also to engage more deeply with God’s will.
My friend was right – there was so much I was unnecessarily walking away from. These were things that perhaps God wanted me to enjoy.
In the months that followed, I found myself memorably saying, “Why not?” to more ocean adventures than I thought I could fit in one year. By my birthday that year, I was regularly surfing sunrises. I learned how to scuba dive and started to sail more regularly (probably in the hopes another ocean-crossing opportunity might arise). Almost every day I was in the water and saying, “Why not?”
Out of the water I said why not to writing a book about one of my relationships (“52 Things I Learned About My Faith From My Atheist Boyfriend”), and a bit later, I said why not to writing a book for a CEO I had long admired, who ran the biggest beauty franchise in Africa.
This one mindset shift unlocked new knowledge and understanding of what I was able to do. More so, it unlocked a secret of what God could do in my life.
For years I had heard the verse “With God anything is possible,” but I had often associated it with people in desperate situations.
When I started to apply the two magic words to my dreams, it was as if God started turning mountains into molehills. Truly, anything turned possible. I started to wonder if that was what Jesus meant by having faith to move mountains. Aren’t some of the mountains we make with our mind more unmovable than Everest?
The “Why not?” mindset shift created remarkable movement in my life. As I took that question to God, I started to find true transformation. I suppose I also learned another secret along the way – you know you have put your life in God’s hands when you experience transformation.
As we transform, we begin to transform the world around us. Soon my “Why not?” moments were less about my mornings surfs and more about how I could love and serve others better. This is when we know we are living closer to the will of God.
This was the place where things would grow and flow. This is where I finally understood that I can “ask for anything in [HIS] name and it will be given to [ME].” This is where mountains are moved because God will move Everest if it means someone will draw closer to Him.
Anything truly is possible!