I feel like I’m a passenger of my own life.
I’m not afraid of going on welfare. I’m afraid of being ordinary.
As I heard him say the things I saw my life flash before my eyes. I recalled the decisions I’ve made, the places I’ve traveled to, the friendships I’ve made, the speeches I’ve heard.
But most importantly…
The things I’ve done.
Right or wrong, good or bad life is all about the choices we make and the choices we follow through with.
It’s about doing.
It’s about being the driver and captain of our own life and not being a passenger that’s merely along for the ride.
The irony here is that what holds us back to start, becomes the thing that drives us forward in the end. It’s what rips us out of apathy and tells us that something is wrong.
That thing is called fear.
Being afraid to fail leads us down a path of passiveness. And as we walk down that path we begin to realize just how bleak the path is.
Most of us have seen it before.
It’s a straight line and the roads are smooth from all of those that went before. The speed limit signs of society tell you to that you’re a million miles and decades away from your goal.
Your goal.
You forgot what that was because you were busy thinking about the next pit stop as you stare at the clock of life counting down the seconds and days until you reach a checkpoint.
Marriage. Kids. Buying a house. Paying off a mortgage. College tuition. Switching jobs.
Each pit stop you look back and wonder if you got on the right path.
Each pit stop you look forward and wonder if you can get off.
Where would that exit take me? Am I even capable of getting off?
You realize that the other path, the path of uncertainty and maybe even failure, is a lot less scary than this path of passiveness of ordinary.
You wonder what if you just got on that windy, uncertain road to begin with? And then regret starts to settle in. What if I did those things I was afraid of doing? What if I didn’t settle and do what was expected of me? What if I followed my dreams and put myself out of my comfort zone?
I read a quote somewhere once that said most people overestimate the cost of doing something and underestimate the cost of doing nothing.
Truth.
That person is a smart guy.
And right or wrong, the smartest thing we can do as people is to live life to the fullest. To be the captains of our own lives and to embrace fear head on.
The best thing we can do is to do.
Something..
Something that is extraordinary, scary and defines who you are and who you were meant to be.
It’s not too late.
It’s never too late to look fear head on and say it’s my turn to drive. It’s my time and I got it from here.
And in that moment, you realize you can do anything and that you are in control. You’re the driver again and the captain of your own life.
The captain of you.