Taking Chances

Day two of my writing challenge and as I write this I am trying to come up with a topic. I find that there is usually something going on in my own family that I can draw from, so the topic today is fear and regret.

My youngest son was given the opportunity of a lifetime! He was asked by our neighbor if he would like to become the mascot for our local hockey team. It would be about once a week for the next 30 weeks or so and always on a Saturday so it would not interfere in case he had a homework assignment. The job paid forty dollars for about two and a half hours work and since he was saving up for a new gaming computer the money would definitely come in handy. With all those pluses you would think he would jump at the chance, but he told our neighbor he needed time to think about it.

The fellow who asked him to take this on told him he would have to decide before the weekend, because if my son didn't want the job he would have to have enough time to ask someone else. This huge opportunity was sitting in my son's lap and he was looking at all the reasons not to do it. Now I totally understand his concerns as this was a big unknown to him, but in his mind he was thinking about all the negatives such as having to perform in front of people, which being a bit on the shy side was not something he was familiar with. As it got closer and closer to the end of the week I kept asking him if he had made a decision and he kept saying he didn't want to talk about it. Finally, a day before he was supposed to let our neighbor know one way or the other, I decided to take matters into my own hands and cornered him. I told him that even if he didn't take the job I would not be disappointed in him. I told him I understand this is really scary for you and if you really feel like you cannot do it I understand, but... if there is any chance in your mind that you will regret it if you don't do it, then I suggest you do it. He was quiet for quite awhile and then he suddenly said out of the blue, " I am going to do it!"

I am so proud of him, as I know full well how nervous he is about this, but he let his fears take a back seat for a minute before they could get the better of him and took a huge leap of faith. I told him I am going to take a page from your book and the next time that I am scared to try something new, I will think about how brave you are.

He starts his new job this Saturday and will shadow the former mascot before he attempts going on his own. He doesn't want any of us to go to the game as he feels he would be too self conscious if his family were there, which I totally understand. I am hoping this opportunity will help him to not only overcome some of his fears, but also help build his confidence, as sometimes I don't think he realizes how amazing he really is!

Anyway, that is my blog for the day and hopefully it will give you some food for thought if like my son, you are talking yourself out of doing something you truly want to do out of fear, ask yourself is there any chance that if you don't do it you will live to regret it? If the answer is yes, take a deep breath and go for it!!

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is the regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."~Sydney Smith