Absolutely

When I was younger, I lived on Guam. My family would regularly go to the beach, and I thus developed somewhat of an understanding of the ocean—in a practical sense. I spent many hours playing in the waves, digging in the sand, racing hermit crabs and the like.

One day I went along with some friends who were going to a swimming hole with a diving tower. When we got there I saw the platform and thought to myself, "that doesn't look so high." Well, needless to say, when I found myself looking down from the hard concrete slab suspended above the ocean floor, the water in between didn't seem as forgiving as it had from below. And so I debated. I worked up courage, and then lost it. My friends showed me how fun it was, but it still didn't appeal to me, I told myself reasons, but I just couldn't remember them when I peered over the edge.

While I spent time working up the courage to take the plunge, something else was happening, of which I hadn't the slightest. On Guam there are 2 kinds of weather: rainy (really rainy) and sunny. This day was the latter. Now, I'm 1/4 Norwegian, and in Norway there is only one type of weather: dark.

While I was debating and mustering the courage to jump, the sun did a number on my white-as-chalk skin.



My point to this little anecdote is not that you should always wear sunscreen (although it's not a bad idea), nor that you should seize the day and take the metaphorical jump. My point is that some things are just absolute. I could have debated that jump forever. There are a million reasons both to and not to jump (not the least of which was my gripping fear). What happened to me has happened to many people—it's called "analysis paralysis." I spent so much time debating that not only did I miss out on life, I suffered the consequences of removing myself from normalcy.

I've found that courage is one thing that is absolute. Either you have it, or you don't. Don't waste your time trying to talk yourself into things. Do them, or don't.

Spend some time thinking about what things are absolutes in your life. When you find them, recognize them, even write them down if you must, but know that the recognition of these absolutes means you'll no longer be prone to analysis paralysis. Your life will begin to rid itself of worry and wasted time.



P.S. I never jumped from the platform—physically.