We put a stupid amount of money into sod to cover the drain field for our upcoming house that we are building. It's a requirement of the county we live in. I suppose there is a good reason for it--something like not letting all that dirt we also paid a lot of money for wash away. Whatever. Paying for dirt and grass to cover...well, you get the picture.
Anyway, we conveniently have entered into a season of no rain. Perfect. So we need to make sure this expensive investment gets watered every day so that it doesn't just dry up and die. No big deal. Until you factor in that we do not have power or water on this property yet. BUT, we do have a handy lake. So into this lake goes a pump to which we attach pipe and a large hose and water by hand. Problem solved.
Then my husband has to leave for two weeks and he shows me how this works. "Now, be aware that the PVC may come apart. Probably won't, but if it does. . ." And I then get very thorough instruction on how to go about fixing it. But, it probably won't happen. So of course, it does. In two places. (Hand palm emoji here...)
My grandson, Quinn, was with me when I was fixing it. I needed to pull the pipe together by about two inches, from one end or the other. Then use the primer and PVC glue. This pipe would not budge for me at the drain field edge, and I was heading to the lake to see if there was any slack at the other end. All of a sudden as I was headed that way, the pipe at my feet moved about six inches.
I turned and looked back, and Quinn was standing there looking at me.
"How did you do that?"
"I just pulled it." I hurried back to make sure he hadn't separated the pipe in another place, thereby causing another place that I had to repair.
"How did you do that? I couldn't get it to move." I stood and stared at the pipe and hose at my feet.
He placed one foot on the slope of the grass and reached down and picked up the pipe with his hands. "I just planted my foot and pulled. It wasn't hard."
That is the benefit of youth. They operate from a place of no fear. I hesitated to do anything that would cause me more problems. I did not want to create further issues. So I was reluctant to act, hesitated, was slow to move. Quinn, who didn't think much about the downside, just planted his feet and pulled.
I've had things I wanted to accomplish. Goals I wish I could attain. Fear of failure, of not getting it right, or falling short of expectations have kept me from stepping out or moving forward. So, in many instances I did nothing. I consoled myself with the knowledge that at least I hadn't failed.
How many times would it have been better to have just planted our feet and pulled, or pushed, or whatever? So, what is the worst that can happen? We fail? We make a mistake? Maybe, just maybe, we don't.
Plant your feet. You got this.
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