Fortune Cookie Friday: You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play

The hardest part when venturing out in life, is taking that first step. You may be filled with apprehension, or just plain fear. Unless you are some prognosticator, you have no idea what the future holds for you. So how do you start?

I suggest you lift your foot, maintain your balance, and place it in front of your other foot. Repeat as needed. Yeah, you’re probably thinking, “It’s not that easy.” Many would agree with you, but let me put your mind at ease.

Moving your feet is standard, for most of us. Some even have a hard time slowing down or sitting still. The trick here is “maintaining your balance.” It means more than not falling over and landing on your butt. It entails you not to freak out. You just need a little hope.

Those feelings of apprehension, fear, or doubt hold you back from doing fantastic things. They are crutches and you need to throw them aside. Will you succeed or fail in your venture? That remains to be seen. The odds are probably against you, but that doesn’t mean you should give up taking that chance. This is not War Games (1983), and you are not Joshua playing “Global Thermonuclear War,” where “the only way to win is not to play.” How can you succeed if you don’t try? You are bound to make mistakes on your journey, but you will learn from them.

If you think about it, your journey is more like the lottery. In some lotteries, the chances of winning can be 1: 45,057,474.00, but look how many people buy tickets. “You can’t win if you don’t play.” There is that small hope that those people picked the right six numbers. That hope is their balance.

So, stand up, have hope, and get going. You’re only one step away from your journey to success.