Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall...

I wish I could take credit for that sentence, but I can’t. Ray Bradbury wrote it. 

So brilliant. 

So simple. 

So true. 

Why is it so easy to lose sight of some of the things that should be so simple in this whirlwind we call life?

I know it’s only February, but 2014 hasn’t exactly gotten off to the start I was hoping for – and not just because I’ve been sick. I feel like I haven’t been focused. I’ve been spending too much time in my head (not a place you want to be – trust me). I've been frustrated. Making excuses for why things aren’t the way I want them to be.

I’ve been drifting... 

But spending time with my nephew Chaz last week reminded me of one of the simple truths in life I've managed to let slip through the cracks.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall…

Chaz was teaching me how to play Flying Gecko Football. Yes. You read that right. Flying Gecko Football. In Chaz’s world, gecko’s have wings and can fly. Of course they can… because why not?!?

The game is pretty simple. To play, you climb up on the arm of your couch holding your football that is actually an egg with special powers like spinning webs, and then you jump with the special football/egg as far as you can.

Flying Gecko Football!!!

I warned Chaz to be careful, because sometimes landing can be a little bumpy – even with a football/egg that can spin webs… but he wasn’t afraid. He took the starting position, and jumped.

I’m sure you can guess what came next. Let’s just say it was a bumpy landing. Flying Gecko was down. And yes… there were tears.

Aunt Marena – aka Lego Spider (apparently, that’s the other player in Flying Gecko Football) picked up the injured lizard to make sure there wasn’t any serious damage. As I was rocking Chaz back and forth (because he’s still little enough barely to let me) he looked up at me and through his tears said, “Sometimes it hurts to land, doesn’t it? My wings went back into my body too soon. Let’s do it again.”

So brilliant. 

So simple. 

So true.

Thank you, Chaz. I’ve been spending so much time in my head, I lost sight of that for awhile.

We all hunt for advice on a daily basis, constantly asking friends, colleagues, family members - even strangers - what they think we should do about this, that or the other. We hope they might enlighten us by offering up some fantastic motto or unique insight that will change our perspectives and attitudes for the better. But let’s be honest, that rarely ever happens.

Instead, the advice we usually get encourages us to play it safe. We’re told not to wander too far off the beaten path. We’re encouraged to steer clear of impulsive decisions, not to take chances until we’re ready.

Is anyone ever ready?

It can be scary to make decisions confidently, to choose your own path and to commit to your own judgment. I think the reason we receive the advice we do at times is that the purveyor of advice wants to be right just as much as you don’t want to fail. So, when you tell someone to play it safe, maybe it seems that nobody loses, but in truth, nobody wins.

Maybe you’ve already taken that big step to do something you want to do, something you’re passionate about. It’s ambitious, which is the best part about it. You know it won’t be easy, but you can’t wait to get started and try and make something of it… and more importantly, of yourself. Then, out of the blue, come the people (quite often your friends), who wish they had the determination and willpower to do what you're attempting, and who try to plant those seeds of doubt in your mind. It’s probably not out of spite or jealousy… but out of their own self-appeasement.

I like words… but can’t is NOT a word I’m fond of. So I say don’t listen to anyone who says you can’t do something. They’re just afraid you might actually do it.

The only thing standing in the way of everything you want in life is yourself. If you don’t like something… change it. It’s really as simple as that. So go with your gut. If you feel it’s right, it probably is. And if it isn’t… it’s not the end of the world.

Learn.

Then jump again.

And again.

Your wings will unfold as you fall.  

Thank you for reminding me, Chaz.

A little Chazzle Dazzle makes EVERYTHING better!