Getting Stung | Megan Noll Photography

I screamed as a I felt a sharp pain jolt my thigh.

When I was 19, I went on the first of many trips with Brian’s family to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. A few family members had jelly fish stings throughout the week, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that I got stung. What was surprising was the extent of it.

As I walked into the ocean, a little under waist deep, a wave crashed into me. As I was stepping, a jelly fish hit the inside of my left thigh, and wrapped completely around my right thigh. My entire thigh was covered with the telling welts of a jelly fish encounter.

This summer, 6 years later, I realized that I still don’t like to go more than knee deep in those waters. I felt my whole body tensing up when I saw a wave coming my direction. But I still go out in the water because overall, it’s worth it. July in South Carolina is no joke. It’s muggy and hot and the water is sweet reprieve from the blistering heat.

And you know what else?

It’s okay to have been stung by something in life, but you can’t let that fear of the pain to keep you out of the water.

Being an entrepreneur is scary. This might sound less positive that I normally am, but I plead with you to hear me out. One day, you are going to get stung. You might have someone copy your idea’s, or laugh at your dreams. You might have an upset client, or a project that you gave every piece of your heart to may not succeed.

Friends, I’ve been there on every account and it hurts. It can make you want to give up.

When those stings happen, you have to remind yourself why you got in the entrepreneurship waters to begin with.

Was it your desire to serve people? Go serve.
Maybe it was your love of your craft? Go create.
Was it having a job you feel fulfilled in? Go do.

Getting stung doesn’t change the person you are. It doesn’t change your heart to do good in the world. If you let the stings keep you out of the water, you are the one losing your freedom, and missing out on ways to serve those around you.

When you find yourself getting stung, make appropriate changes where needed. If you have someone laugh at you, show them wrong. If you have an upset client, do what you can to make it right, and brainstorm things that you could do to avoid that situation with your next client.

But here is the important thing. Get back in the water.

When I got back in the water after getting stung, I couldn’t sell myself a guarantee that another jelly fish wouldn’t sting me. I caught myself thinking things like “You lived through it once, you can live through it again”, but that didn’t take away the fear. Let me tell you, from experience, those jelly fish are few and far in between, and man, that water is refreshing.