the choice

Will we look back and regret it?

Regret not doing it?

Not doing that Thing:

Writing that Book,

Chasing that Job,

Climbing that Ladder,

Achieving that Goal?

I wonder. We might.

What if we never have time to do the things we say we will?

What if our brains spin and spin and spin and never slow down long enough to complete a whole, entire thought?

What if we move on too quickly, give up too early, move on to the next thing?

What if we drift, numbly, through oblivion with nothing in our wake but a waning ripple?

Will that tiny ripple be enough to feel like it mattered? like all the drifting made any difference at all?

BUT ALSO.

What if we start to paddle with purpose and effort?

Will we spend so much time striving, looking ahead at the horizon that we miss the air around us?

Will we be too tired to love, will our arms be so weary from the paddling that we can't lift them towards the ones we love?

Will we feel like we sacrificed everything for nothing worth much--glory, attention, affirmation from strangers?

Or will we feel like we stepped into ourselves and honored ourselves--believing we were good enough to be good enough?

It's not the fear of failure that's paralyzing.

It's the fear of choosing wrong and losing ... something. Missing something. Something you'll never have a chance to un-miss.