There is this amazing fantasy book series, the Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers. Without getting into all the nerdy details, there is a prophet-like figure in the book who regularly gives this advice to the protagonist: “Live the life that unfolds before you.”

We almost never know the future. We almost always know that the grass isn’t greener elsewhere. And, we usually can figure out the next right thing to do. So “live the life that unfolds before you” is good advice. Stay the course. It is the advice I am most tempted to give others most of the times.*

So can I make a confession? I have not been so good at following my own advice. I have been reluctant to live the life unfolding before me. I have been reluctant to embrace my life as the “100 Thing Challenge guy.”

It is not that I lack passion for the message of the 100TC. I can rant for quite some time about the value of practicing simplicity. Recently I have even clarified the 100TC vision: to create better relationships of all kinds through the formative power of simplicity. The relationships 100TC advocacy will focus on are: family, community, God, and nature. I am very excited about where the 100TC movement will go and the ways in which it will grow.

Making the case from my blog for rejecting excessive consumerism and embracing a more simple lifestyle comes easy to me. Being viewed by others as a public figure who makes the case for simplicity has not come easy to me. Though I do not get stage fright, I get stage self-uncertainty. I am comfortable on radio and TV shows and in front of audiences delivering a message. I am not so comfortable thinking of myself as a message deliverer. And I have not done well confronting that discomfort and maturing past it. And honestly, I have not done well attracting mentors to help guide me through it. And yet despite my incompetence, the 100TC life keeps unfolding before me. Even though I have bumbled through the past few years, media keep calling and the incredible 100TC community keeps growing.

And so I just want to publicly say I am going to do my best to go with it––live the life unfolding before me, come what may. I am going to accept that, at least until media and you super inspiring fans lose interest in the 100TC, it is my role to be the 100 Thing Challenge guy who speaks out against excessive consumerism and speaks up for simplicity.

Truly, I might never get over my surprise that so many people are interested in the 100 Thing Challenge and the message of simplicity that accompanies it. But I am going to do my best to get over letting my surprise turn into worry or doubt or inaction.

Thanks to all you who have considered the 100TC an inspiration. There’s more to come…

*I would say the exception to this rule is if you are in an abusive relationship of any kind. Then it is best to get out as fast and as safe as possible.