Shan’t we have to risk it?

“I know what it is,” said Peter; “it’s a beaver. I saw the tail.”

“It wants us to go to it,” said Susan, “and it is warning us not to make a noise.”

“I know,” said Peter. “The question is, are we to go to it or not? What do you think, Lu?”

“I think it’s a nice beaver,” said Lucy.

“Yes, but how do we know?” said Edmund.

“Shan’t we have to risk it?” said Susan. “I mean, it’s no good just standing here and I feel I want some dinner.”

— C.S. Lewis, The Lion,The Witch, and the Wardrobe

I got all bundled this morning to take a walk. The minute I hit the driveway, I realized,

"Hey, it’s a nice day!"

Even with the light breeze, I felt like I was overdressed. So, before getting too far, I removed my hat and gloves, put them in the house, and made my way.

Then, I got to a higher elevation and that wind all of the sudden got cold! I put up my hood and jammed my hands in my pockets.

It was then I wished I had my hat and gloves.

Here is the thing before venturing out, I was presented with a couple of options:

One, wear my hat and gloves and risk getting hot resulting in me taking them off and carrying them or

Two, leaving them at home and the weather getting colder and wishing I had them.

Because I didn’t want to carry bulky clothing and banked on it staying warm, I went for option 2.

I was wrong.

That is the thing about options. More often than not, we have no idea the outcomes of our choices.

Every choice is a chance. Sometimes we win, sometimes we learn. Either way, we end up with a result.

Too many times we end up sitting on the fence with our decisions. We don’t make a choice because we are not guaranteed the result.

In the quote above, the Pevensie kids are trying to decide if they should trust this beaver in the strange world of Narnia. After some back and forth, the older sister says,

“Shan’t we have to risk it?” said Susan. “I mean, it’s no good just standing here and I feel I want some dinner.”

I love that statement, “it’s no good just standing here…” How true that is! When we sit on the fence, we accomplish nothing. We learn nothing. It is only when we make a choice that we learn if it was the right one or not.

So stop sitting on the fence. Make a choice and see what happens.

The worst case is you learn something and have a story to tell!