Now I have to assume that no one in their right mind really wants to get hit by a bus–but it does represent what it takes to succeed at whatever you are undertaking. (I won’t get into a long winded dissertation on the definition of “succeed” at this point. No one except the voice in the back of your head knows what “success” means anyway.)
If we don’t take risks, and if we don’t go where we are afraid to go, we are not likely to get where we want to go.
If we plan carefully and put all our ducks in a row, we can step off that curb and right inside the bus that will take us where we are going.
This is much preferable to being like an insect on the bus’s windshield.
Remember the old joke, “What did the windshield say to the bug?” “Bet you don’t have the guts to try THAT again!”
Part of planning carefully–of calculating the risk–is to know that when the busses do come rolling by, that we make sure the one we take has the sign to where we want to go. Each bus will have a sign that says where it is going–so pay attention.
It is not unusual for people to spend their whole lives on the wrong bus.
Once on board, because they are looking for a bus stop that the correct bus would have taken them to, they never figure out when to get off. They know they are on the wrong bus, but it is warm and comfortable on this one.
When that happens, sometimes you just plain have to summon all your courage, pull your pants into a wedgie, and get off and ask where the heck you are–there is always someone willing to give directions. Usually the person sitting next to you will give you hints–probably has been giving you hints (spouses are good for this) and sometimes even the bus driver will tell you where you went wrong.
But that cannot always be counted on!
While most buses have schedules they attempt to maintain, they can sometimes get bogged down in traffic or even get a flat tire. There are sometimes other passengers on board that make the trip less than pleasant too. These events can sometimes really test ones patience, but hang in there, bring your lap top or a good book–there are always blog posts ideas to work on–sooner or later the bus will get you to where you want to go.
It will ultimately always be “you” that chooses whatever bus you end up on–so make it count–and make the ride count as well. Much of our “experience” of the bus ride itself is really what makes our chosen profession so meaningful at the end of the ride.
It is also not unusual to actually manage getting ourselves on the correct bus only to discover that we’ve changed our mind and don’t really want to go where that bus is going after all. When this happens just ask the bus driver for a “transfer.”
There will be other buses along soon enough–with as many possible choices of destinations as we dare to dream.
Do you know where your bus is going?
By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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