Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.
William Shakespeare
1564 – 1616

When I was a young boy, summers were spent playing ball and fishing. Baseball took only a small portion of the time; our favored activity was fishing.

Now, you shouldn’t confuse what we called fishing with what the serious angler does. We had very limited equipment: generally a homemade or cane pole, some fishing line, and whatever sort of hook we could find. Buying bait was out of the question; we dug up worms or caught crickets and crawfish.

But even when we actually went fishing, it didn’t take long for us to get bored. So the majority of our fishing time wasn’t actually fishing. We would explore the wildlife in and around the creek.

One thing I vividly remember is catching and playing with turtles. We didn’t fish for turtles; we’d spot them in the shallows of the creek or on the creek bank and we’d catch them and play with them.

I must remind you that we were young boys, probably no more than 12 years old. When we caught a turtle, we would put it in a clearing and then touch its head with a small stick. It didn’t hurt the turtle, but the turtle would immediately retract its head and legs, retreating inside its shell. And it would not stick its head out again until it perceived that there was no danger.

Once the turtle emerged from its shell, it would start walking. If we touched its head again, it would immediately retreat back into its shell. Sometimes this game would go on for an hour; like I said, we were young.

We could have learned a valuable lesson from the turtle. At the first sign of any trouble, the turtle retreats into the comfort of its shell. But the turtle can’t make any progress from inside its shell. For the turtle to move forward, it has to stick its neck out.

What could you accomplish if you occasionally stuck your neck out? And what do you expect to accomplish if you never stick your neck out? The simple truth is that far too many of us act like a turtle. We have a comfort zone and we’re deathly afraid to stick our necks out. We’re content to stay in our shells. And as a result, it’s impossible for us to reach our goals.

I’m not suggesting you do anything reckless. However, I am suggesting that you take an honest look at yourself. If you find yourself pulling back into your shell every time there’s a little disturbance, you’ll never get very far in life. Remember the turtle. If you want to achieve on a higher level, you need to stick your neck out.

You can measure your potential for success by the time you spend outside your comfort zone. The more you “stick your neck out”, the more you’ll learn and grow and the more you’ll achieve.

It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all.
William James
1842 – 1910

Copyright © 2014 John Chancellor