Sunday Story…Behold the Turtle

He gets nowhere until he sticks his neck out. Yet risk appears when he sticks his neck out. Before he sticks his neck out he is safe, ensconced in his shell, impervious to predators.

 

But there is no way for our friend the turtle to get food or water without sticking his neck out. He can’t find a mate or do all the turtle things that turtles do. There is a risk in sticking your neck out. And there is a reward as well. Risk in and of itself is not a bad thing.

 

All forward motion involves risk. Remember way back when you were learning to walk? You fell down over and over and over. And you got up again and again and again. The reward of walking, of mobility, far outweighed the risk of falling on your well-padded rear.

 

The challenge is in knowing when the risk and reward ratios are in balance…in other words when the rewards far outweigh the risk. There are very few rewards that outweigh the risk of death, for instance. If I die in the attempt I can’t learn from my failure and try again. Failure should never be fatal. On the other side, are the odds of it working out worth the benefits? Getting up when I fall down so I can learn to walk for the rest of my life is a benefit that far outweighs the inconvenience of falling down.

 

So don’t stick your neck out in a pond of sharks. Do stick your neck out in places where you understand the risk and the reward is worth taking.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412