Here’s the thing. I knew better. I knew how this was going to turn out, yet I did it anyway. I allowed my dog to stalk a rabbit in a neighbor’s driveway on leash. ON A LEASH ATTACHED TO ME WHILE HOLDING MY PHONE. Seriously, I knew there was a 99% chance I was going down and I did. A little violently. I now feel like a little kid with a scraped knee and tender palms. I’m lucky that’s all it is. I wish the video had continued so you could hear me laughing at myself as I picked it up and went to untangle my dog from the bushes she had wrapped herself around in her wild and crazy attempt to capture Peter Rabbit. So, why did I do it??? Because I also believed in the teeny tiny 1% chance I would NOT go down 😜
This little adventure got me thinking of all of the messes, big and small, that I’ve walked right into KNOWING the outcome but somehow believing in the 1% possibility that it will turn out differently. I’m optimistic like that. And although it leads to heartbreak and disappointment a lot of time, I wouldn’t change this about myself for anything. It means that I don’t give up easily. I give second, third, one hundred chances. It means that I believe in the best possible outcome even when that outcome is a long shot amongst long shots. It means I believe in miracles.
I’ve defined this as being fatally optimistic. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I want to believe that this sort of optimism is detrimental and work to rid myself of it. If I could believe this I would be able to protect myself from being crushed and I wouldn’t be jerked to my knees the way my puppy took me down today. But, that would be playing is safe.
Instead I will continue to believe in the most wonderful of outcomes and I’ll take chances on long shots.
Besides, if I’m never violently thrown off balance I am never in that place where I am forced to surrender my control back to God and have faith in His plan for me. And, I rather like believing in miracles. I like believing in six impossible things before breakfast like Alice in Wonderland.