Life is all about figuring out if it will work! What is it? Well, it could be ballet lessons for our daughters, drum lessons for our son or starting a business. It could be adopting a husky or fixing the brakes on the car. Will it work? Well, we aren’t always sure and sometimes reluctant to try, but the question, “will it work” keeps me going.
The question, will it work, may scare the pants off of some people. Honestly, it scares me too sometimes. Yet at the same time, it is a question that thrills me. The moments when ‘will it work’ succeeds is an amazing feeling. The times we belly flop is usually painful. Sometimes we laugh, cry, swear or do all three. But, that’s part of life, walking, running, leaping, sometimes landing, sometimes falling and then getting back up and trying again.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if we became a human race who didn’t fear failing. If at the end of a rough belly flop we were greeted with, “dude, nice try”, band-aids and first aid kits. Then sat at on a deck to drink soda, beers, water or whatever floats your boat. What if we sat on the deck and debriefed what went well, what caused the belly flop and then came up with a game plan together to help each other go forward. What if we saw a business flop as a chance to help someone rise. What if we saw any flop as a chance to rise.
Image if we stopped getting in each others way and began to help carry each others burdens. What if we began to pray for one another. Not the kind of prayer that gives us freedom to walk away, but the freedom to stay in the trenches with those around us.
What if communities rallied around failure to problem solve and come up with real solutions. Instead of saying I didn’t think they could make it or even hoping the business or attempt would fail because we are afraid of competition. What if instead of gossiping we all got on the ‘lets figure this out train’. Then instead of stopping at the station we could keep going to make our communities, churches, organizations and families even more awesome.
What could we do as a individuals, a business or a community if we weren’t afraid. If we weren’t afraid to try, because we knew our tribe would be there to pick up the pieces and help make it even better than we dreamed!
I have always been the happiest when I am in the trenches getting my hands dirty. I have always needed to have a greater end goal and purpose than just making money. Making money has always been boring to me, while helping those around me go forward, accomplish a goal excites me. I am excited to engage with those around me, helping to make lives better, happier and helping to connect peoples dots. I have my first aid kit ready, listening ears on, shoulder ready for someone to have a good cry on and a hand to help those around me get back up. I’m ready to do life with those around me.