I've noticed more and more as I get older how often others will feel the need to weigh in with their opinion on our life. Sometimes it can be very hard to tune all of the advice out, and to keep from wondering if one of the many varying opinions might be valid. But I think that there comes a time when we all have to say, "Hey! This is MY life. And at the end of the day it is ME who has to go to that job or pay those bills or live with the ramifications of this decision. Not YOU! Me!" This is not to say that the advice of others should be cast aside. Obviously, there are those with much more experience or another point of view that may be able to offer valuable insight into our choices. But, as long as the decisions we are making are not foolhardy or intentionally negligent, and they are made with the best intentions for our family and those who might be affected, I think that every happy ending involves an incredible amount of risk. So while we take others' advice into account, we still need to live our lives, and move forward, and take chances. If we succeed, then we have the great pleasure of looking back at the nay sayers with a bit of smug victory. And if our efforts fail, then the absolute worst thing that can happen is an "I told you so!"... and even then, haven't they been telling us "so" all along? At least we took the chance. At least we were BRAVE enough to take a risk. I've often said that my two greatest fears are falling down stairs and regret. But I am not one little bit afraid of regret caused by things I have done. I am only afraid of the regret caused by the chances I didn't take, or the fear that kept me from laying it all on the line. When I am laying on my death bed, I may not be accomplished, or wealthy... when I die there may be very few people on this earth who know my name... but I will die happy knowing that I loved completely, and I lived completely, and that I never held back from seeking my dreams out of fear. Every hurt and every setback will seem very small compared to knowing that I had the courage to take the risk.
"Nobody thinks this will work"
"You just described every great success story in history."
-Say Anything
4 comments:
I love the quote from "Say Anything". Risk is difficult and courage is even harder. Thanks for the post and reminding me of why it's so worth it to try.
Jen! I've been absent from the blogsphere for awhile.Trying to catch up on everyone's stuff now. I think the holidays have a lot of us behind in reading because I noticed Trish and Riley haven't posted anything new on my blog feed either...I loved this post and I loved the Say Anything quote at the end.
Excellent post Jen! Thanks for the reminder.
What is it they say?
With great risk comes great reward!
Although I must admit, my Mom has been correct about every guy I've ever dated and I always hated that because I didn't want to believe it at the time! Good thing I never gave up on my dreams for my last boyfriend...
Great quotes!
Post a Comment