To risk or not to risk...

The year is flying by, April is ALMOST here and I find myself asking (myself) when I stopped taking risks. That of course is a ridiculous question, because I have never been one to take risks, let alone STOP taking them. And then I think what have I missed out on because I didn't take a risk. Obviously I cannot answer that. How would I know what I missed- I missed it. There was one defined moment when I stood at this cliff in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the cold water was 40 ft. below, my heart was beating wildly, and I knew that this was my opportunity. It was self defining because I knew that the was probably the last opportunity I would possibly ever have to launch myself off of that cliff, and I was terrified. But then I jumped.

Tyler was four at the time. He wasn't looking at a cliff, he was looking at the fireman's pole on the playground. And let me tell you it's a high pole, especially if you are four. Tyler's goal was simple. He was gonna throw himself at the pole and slide down to the bottom by himself. He was terrified. He was little, the pole huge. It was a big moment, and I was a witness. He ran up to the pole and threw himself at it and slid to the bottom. The rest of the night was a celebration for Tyler. He encouraged his friends to do the same. "I was afraid, but I'm brave." His motto follows him through life. He's now 6 and he's mastered the fireman pole, and the diving board and no training wheels on his bicycle. I find it amazing that a small child refuses to be daunted by life's challenges. He knows that if he lives in his fear and refuses to take a risk, he will never experience all the things that life, and God, have to offer.

Adventure lies ahead, if we are brave enough to take a risk.

"You become brave by doing brave acts." -Aristotle