Don’t Let Indecision Squander Opportunities

I am sure that indecision is one of the most harmful experiences in the life of any person. I still remember an experience I had as a little boy. Several of us were playing by the side of Beargrass Creek. We were talking about whether or not any one of us could jump over the creek. I looked at the creek and said I believed I could do it and the other boys dared me to try. I got back a distance, so as to get a good running start. As I was getting close to the creek, however, it looked wider and wider, and I began to have some doubt that I could do it. I started to jump at the same time I felt that I ought to have held back. The result was that I landed in the middle of the creek. I got all wet and was laughed at by my friends. If I had resolutely made up my mind to jump the creek, I believe I could have done it. My indecision squandered my power.

One of the most tragic plane accidents I ever heard of took place at Bowman Field years ago. A friend who was at the airport and saw it told me that the plane started down the runway. It was gathering speed but not as fast as it should have. After the plane got a considerable distance down the runway, the pilot decided he would try to stop it, but he was going too fast to stop and the result was a crash in which a life was lost. My friend who witnessed the accident said that he believed that if the pilot had kept his motors open and continued to go on, he would have gathered enough speed to take off safely. The crash came because of his indecision.

It is said that when Robert Louis Stevenson had an important decision to make, he would write in one column all of the reasons why he should do that certain thing. Then, in another column, he would write down all the reasons why he should not do it. He would compare the two columns he had written and make his decision. The great misfortune of so many people today is that they never really face up to life’s important decisions.

One of my great loves is baseball. To be a great hitter in baseball one does not have to get a hit every time one bats. In fact, a player can fail two out of every three times and still make any baseball team in America. But to me the most disappointing sight in a game is to see a player stand with his bat on his shoulder and let the third strike be called on him. To swing and miss is not so bad, but to stand there and not do anything is terrible.

So in life. Every decision one makes does not have to be the right one; even the wisest will make mistakes. But if you ever expect to succeed, you have got to be willing to make some decisions, to take some chances and go on. To stand through life with your bat on your shoulder is to fail in the worst way.

We were not free to choose the day and generation in which we would be born, our heredity, or even the color of our skin. Some are born with a talent to sing, others with a talent to work with their hands. But we are all free to use our opportunities or let them slip by, to double our talents or bury them in the weeds.

I am free to be good or bad, to fill my life with hate or with love, to live for self or to live for service, to make the world better or worse, to count for something or to count for nothing.

By Bob Mueller – Bishop of the United Catholic Church: bobmueller.org | Photo by Mohammed Nohassi

P.S. You may also like this article, also written by Bob.