We took this picture last week in Cape Cod.
It’s a powerful oxymoron, don’t you think?
Green flag means, “Go ahead and swim.”
Shark flag means…well, you know what that means.
There had been two shark sightings within the previous 48 hours.
There are sharks. Go ahead and swim.
Isn’t this real life? There are risks. Haters. Complexities. Less- than-ideal conditions. But we always have the choice whether to stay on the beach or jump in the water. Like Brené Brown’s now famous take on a Teddy Roosevelt quote, we need to get in the arena. We’ll come out dirty and scarred (by shark bites? Oh dear, I’m really mixing metaphors…) but we’ll also experience triumph, and the rush of having ventured.
I’m not a physical risk taker. I didn’t swim with the sharks. But in other parts of my life, if I refused to dive in because it’s too risky or complicated or imperfect, I’d literally never do anything.
So if you are in the midst of some real life messiness, channel your inner Dory and “just keep swimming.” You’re daring greatly.