Risky Thinking

So guys, I have a thought. I guess I can give a little shout out to Gage and Ashley because this is an awkward thought in my head and a thought from the lost and found box of thoughts. This blog is all about taking chances.

                Lately I’ve been going through a phase much like a midlife crisis; you know the kind where the person gets sick of their job so they quit in the hope of just taking off to a deserted island somewhere in South America and drink margaritas all day by the beach. You know what I’m talking about. Well anyways, I have been thinking, ever since we were five years old we were obligated to go to school; every day, Monday through Friday until we get our diplomas, but what about after all this is done and over with? Sure society tells us to go to college, but no one is forcing us.  You may think that going to college is the only way you will be happy in life, but the reality about life is that it is unpredictable. Anything can happen to anyone at any time. Some of the most successful people in the world are successful because they didn’t conform to what society expected them to do with their lives.

                As I turned on my TV tonight the movie Water for Elephants was just starting. I have read the book and was eager to watch the film. I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed reading it. I even teared up a bit at the end. If you are unfamiliar about this story, it’s about a college boy about to take his final exams before graduating when he receives the awful news of his parent’s fatal car accident. He walks right out of the testing room without looking back. He walks and walks until he sees a train approaching him. Without time to think, he jumps this circus train where he experiences many things, including the life that was waiting for him. This movie really got to me because that’s where we are in our lives today. After graduation we are given to option of either sticking around or jumping into the unknown.  

                What if we were brave enough to take risks like that? It may be silly or foolish to even ponder major life changing decisions, but what if risky decisions shape our lives for the better? So I leave you to think about one of my favorite quotes:

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.”

 –Joseph Campbell