Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Two Types of People...

This may, to some, seem to be a somewhat odd post to begin my new blogging adventure... but I believe i'm willing to take the risk.

Yesterday, to celebrate Memorial Day, my Mother and I decided to spend the day at a public pool right outside of our hometown. After arriving and finally finding a place to spread out our towels among the masses of people who also decided to venture to the pool on Memorial Day (I know... go figure), I decided to go ahead and go for a swim, despite my inclination to lay out for a while beforehand. When I made this suggestion to my mother, she said, "OK, but let's get in the shallow end." I gave in to her wishes and eased my way into the pool... freezing and making every attempt to avoid the splashing of the, what seemed like, hundreds of flailing children around me. "Why did I let her talk me into getting in over here," I thought to myself.

This scenario got me thinking about why in the world she didn't want to just jump in at the much more exciting, 10ft. deep end of the pool. It was then that I realized there are 2 types of people in this world. Type #1 eases their way into the shallow end of the pool, shivering and dreading every drop of water that touches them until, finally, they get up the nerve to submerge themselves completely... then realizing the relaxing coolness of the water and allowing themselves to enjoy the swim. Type #2 decides easing their way into the pool is much too time consuming and uncomfortable so they march straight to the deep in and jump. Sure, jumping may be a shock to the system at first... but is quick and requires much less uncomfortableness and thought. Besides... you can always get out if the water is too cold, right?

I'm definately a jumper... After this epiphany, I began to wonder if this tendency could translate at all into the circumstances of my life. I resolved at a resounding... duh! I love being a jumper. It is fun and exciting, yet uncertain and scary all at the same time. I can see this tendency in decisions i've made throughout my life. When I decide I want to do something, even if it seems outrageous... 9 times out of 10, it's going to happen. I can see this tendency in many relationships. I trust quickly and I have a lot of faith in people. This causes me to become attatched to people and relationships very quickly. I'm also impatient... the time it takes to ease your way into something just seems so mundane to me. Just jump... that's how I have lived my life.

I must admit, this tendency does get me into trouble. I get really excited about things really quickly, and it only takes the smallest doubt to send me straight into a screaching halt... like ice cold water. That being said... I thank my God for all of the "easer's" in my life. They keep me grounded and bring me back to reality when I need it. They force me to be patient. If you are an easer in my life... (i'm sure you know who you are) thank you!

No matter whether you are a jumper or an easer, my prayer for each of us is that we would realize that God made us either-or... for a reason. God bless those jumpers who move things forward and aren't scared of the risk of ice-cold water and God bless those easer's who are tuned to reality and keep us jumpers from hypothermia.


In Him,
Shannon

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