Choose to Participate

When faced with an opportunity, choose to participate.

This was one of the things my dad often told us. It’s definitely how he lived his life. And it is how I try to live mine.

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines. We take no risk in being the observer. We can avoid feeling awkward, anxious, scared or even embarrassed. But when we choose this, we are missing half of life. We are living small. More importantly, we are missing some really fun moments.

Remember, we have to go through the negative emotions to get to the good ones.

In the spring, my son and the rest of the third grade performed in a folk dance night at his school. At one point, they asked for audience participation.

I walked out and stood next to Tucker.

Several other adults walked onto the gym floor, most of whom I didn’t know. A man came and stood to my right. The music director told the men to look to their left—that’s your partner.

The man looked at me and said,

“I’m going to dance with my son.”

Um…awkward.

I told him we would actually be dancing together. He reiterated his intention was to be partnered with his son.

Yeah, dude, I get it. I wasn’t thrilled about dancing with him either, but here we stood. The director caught my eye and confirmed (through the microphone!) that we would be partners.

The awkwardness was at an all-time high.

Thankfully, the music started and we began dancing. The awkward beginning passed and we had a great time. Everyone on the floor was laughing. Tucker was thrilled I was on the floor dancing.

Choose to participate.

This week I was reminded of my Dad’s advice. My family visited Niagara Falls. On a tour called Cave of the Winds you can get right next to one of the waterfalls. There is a specific platform named Hurricane Deck. It’s named perfectly.

You can avoid this part, if you want to. As we walked up the steps, I considered not going. I could just watch from the sidelines. But in my mind, I heard my dad say, “Choose to participate.”

I stepped onto Hurricane Deck.

It was incredible.

The water was loud and powerful. Even with our ponchos on, we were getting soaked. Amazing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

You can be an observer. You can always stay on the side. But if you choose to participate—you’re going to have to get comfortable with feeling some negative emotions. Awkward, anxious, self-conscious, uncertain, nervous, embarrassed, inadequate…the list goes on and on.

Life over here though?

Totally worth it.