Recently my daughter finished her driver's ed class. Now every time we drive, she tells me all the traffic laws that I'm breaking. We had a funny discussion the other day about green lights. The light turned green and my middle chilled yelled from the backseat, "MOM! GO!" and then my oldest daughter that just finished drivers ed said, "NOOOO...proceed with caution." in a really SARCASTIC tone. We all laughed and I said "What was all that about?" She told me that when they learned about traffic lights and what they mean in driver's ed that the teacher asked them the question..."What does a green light mean?" Of course they all said "GO!" and he informed them that the rule of traffic is not that you should go immediately when you see green, but that you should proceed with caution to avoid a wreck or to keep yourself from getting crashed into by someone else that may not be paying attention.
As I drove home from having lunch with friends today, one old friend and one new friend, I was thinking about some of the things that we talked about and things that had been said. I often do this; replay conversations in my mind. We talked about a lot of things but one thing we talked about briefly towards the end was fear. We had a short discussion about how a lot of times people are afraid to take a chance. They're afraid to do something different. We talked about how people become lonely because they close themselves off from relationships. All of these things are done out of anticipation that something bad COULD happen. The light turned green and I giggled and thought "Proceed with caution." to myself. Because I paused, a lady honked at me to go. I quickly hit the gas pedal and continued on but something occurred to me as I drove forward.
I started to think about all the things that we do in life to avoid any mistakes or any kind of hurt. We are taught to do everything with caution, and in some cases that is good. We do have to protect ourselves, but we can't let that mindset constantly stop us and hinder us from growth. Babies fall when they begin to walk. If they never got up again, none of us would walk. Hearts get broken and sometimes people don't love us back, but if we never tried again, we'd all be alone. Businesses fail and mistakes are made, but if everyone that ever failed never tried again...there would be no cars or electricity. We would never have heard of Michael Jordan and there would be no cures for diseases that once took lives.
I think sometimes we proceed with too much caution. I know I do. I hold myself back and use caution as an excuse. You don't build strength in the gym by lifting light objects or doing things that are easy. You build strength by consistently lifting more than you did before...over and over and over again. Life inside or outside of the gym is no different. You have to be willing to take a risk if you want more...more success...more happiness...more strength. The next time an opportunity arises that has the potential to change your life...take it. The next time you have a chance at love...take it. The next time you're in the gym and you're faced with a choice to do a little more and push a little harder in order to get stronger, don't talk yourself out of it. Don't make excuses, and stop being so cautious! Be strong enough to GO after what it is you want in life without fear!
