Advice

A piece of advice you have for others. 

I was probably 10 when my uncle told me this at our family reunion on Lake Okoboji in Iowa. 

My cousins and brother were going to jump off of the floating dock in the middle of the lake. 

I grew up on the beach so I knew how to swim but I wasn't really fond of lakes, they kind of creeped me out (still do)

I made a million excuses for not wanting to tag along, "What if some big fish comes up and bites me?" "What if I go to jump off, slip, crack my head open and die?" "What if I touch the bottom and it feels gross?" "What if there are snakes in there?"

My uncle looked at me and said, "Lauren, you can't live your life saying what if all the time. You will miss out on too much of your life worrying about what could happen. Now get out there and jump off that dock." 

This stuck with me, obviously. 

And this is still something that I am working on myself. 

But, every time I come across something that I don't want to do and I find myself saying "what if" I try to think about the time at the lake and all the other things I would of missed if I had listened to all my crazy "what if" scenarios. 

"What if I don't make it to class the next day or fail out of college?"--instead of staying in, I went out and met friends that I share the most amazing memories with and who will be standing next to me on the biggest day of my life!

"What if I scare him off?"--instead of not telling Jared how I felt, I told him everything about me and my crazy life and he didn't run. Now we are getting married! 

"What if we move and it fails?"--instead of playing it safe, we moved to Winston-Salem. I got my BSN. Jared got his dream job and he is now getting his MBA! 

Life is about taking chances and making mistakes.

I have made a ton and still have more to make. 

But, I know that I am going to try and continue living my life and not asking "what if?"