strike the bell

I'm on a quote kick lately.  (But aren't I always?)  But also, somewhat unusually, I seem to find myself in various situations lately where I am faced with that age-old life choice: take the leap of faith or play it safe.

Sometimes I'm a risk-taker.  Sometimes I am very much not a risk-taker.  (Surely this is a result of being born to my mom and dad - the calculated, collected, predictable one and the risk-taker extraordinaire, respectively.)  I've been trying to figure it out for years.  Ole Miss made me more of a risk-taker.  Law school is making me less of one.  I'm not sure if I like that.

As I think on these decisions I have, the play-it-safe side is more apparent, more in my face.  Be careful.  Slow down.  You might get hurt.  Someone else might get hurt.  But then there's that part of me deep down, that's always there even if it's whispering, with a question - the question - that will always and forever overpower the play-it-safe side of me.  What if?

What if you go for it?  Think what could be waiting.  What's the worst thing that could happen?  You are always safe in Me.  You have nothing to fear from this world.  Make the leap.  Take the plunge.  What are you waiting for?

Earlier today I stumbled across this gem.  Luckily (yet again), Clive Staples has already articulated my thoughts for me...

Make your choice adventurous stranger,

Strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder till it drives you mad

What would have followed if you had...

[C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew]

Riiight.  Got it.  I remember now.  The anticipation of things unknown usually doesn't make me afraid, it makes me excited.  I just forget that sometimes.  But I don't want to forget.  I have to go for it.  I choose to go for it, boldly.  "Make your choice..."  I strike the bell.