"He who hesitates is not only lost, but miles from the next exit." (Unknown Author)
The definition of hesitate is " to pause before saying or doing something, especially through uncertainty."
The word "uncertainty" catches me in that definition because I feel that this is an element that is very common in our day to day lives. Every moment that you step out of your front door, there is uncertainty that you will return. There is uncertainty in having your job day to day.... Anything can happen.
So what level of uncertainty causes hesitation?
In my own life, I have found that I hesitate when I have doubts in my own ability to be successful. There have been many opportunities presented to me like, speaking at a conference, being a guest on a podcast, auditioning for chance to display my talents, that I let slip by me due to my doubts, due to my hesitation.
I think that is what makes this quote so powerful. In these moments, I not only lost out on these opportunities in my life, but there could be miles on life's highway before I will get another chance.
A couple of my Edu-Friends have hit on this issue and I truly value their looks on this topic. The first is Tara Martin (@TaraMartinEdu) and her book Cannonball in. This amazing picture book tells the story of a young girl, Olivia, who fears the high dive at the community pool. She so wants to launch herself in a cannonball but hesitates due to the dabblers at the side of the pool. Through her father's encouragement, she learns to go all in and just jump!
This book has two elements that I believe really fit the quote above. It shows that hesitation and fear hits us at any age. I actually had a very similar discussion with my nine year old daughter this year when she didn't want to enter her monthly karate because she was unsure how she would do. Her self doubt was stopping her and she was stopped on the highway, or just standing on the high dive.
This book also shows that hesitation or doubt in ourselves can be built by putting too much value in the opinions of other. When Olivia goes to her father in the story and explains that she is hurt by the comments of the "dabblers", he explains it in this powerful way:
"The dabblers are not jumping. They have dry hair; they are not even wet! Their opinion of jumpers does not matter. Besides, what do they know about jumping if they are not in the water, Olivia?"
Another educator that touched on this recently is Tisha Richmond (@tishrich). In her Make Learning Magical blog and podcast episode "No Risk, No Magic" she reflects on how pushing past the hesitation and doubt in her life has truly opened up magically opportunities. My favorite line from her blog reads:
"I admit there have been times that I have let my fear and insecurities almost convince me that I wasn't worthy or capable. There have even been stretches where I've let other's people's negativity and doubt, cloud my thinking and temporarily steal my joy. However, over time pushing past what was comfortable into the unknown has helped me to realize my own strengths and passions, discover truths about myself that I would have never known, and become more of who I was made to be."
I love this because it brings something out of the unknown author's quote that we might not immediately notice. Even if we may miss the exit due to hesitation, doubt, negativity, etc, it is important that we just stay on the road. We may be miles from the next chance, but we've got to keep moving forward.
In 8th grade, my teacher approached me and recommended that I would become a teacher. My reaction was not one that she expected because I immediately started laughing. This was not an exit that my teenage self thought was appropriate for my life's road trip.
Yet the road of life has a funny way of curving, swerving and sometimes even doing a u-turn to get us back to those exits. We just have to keep driving and make sure to pay attention to the road signs ahead.
