Let’s Jump the Fence!!!
Originally Posted on May 9, 2014 by ginasurgeon - www.positivefaceblog.org
“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” ~Roger Crawford
Summer time in the Motor City was hot at best. Other times, it felt like the devil’s tropical vacation spot. A few families had one of those above ground swimming pools with the metal walls, but everybody had a water hose. And on occasion, someone with pop open that fire hydrant – which would become that neighborhood water park until the fire department arrived. We lived on a block with a cul de sac that we affectedly called “the circle”. In theory, there was no way out if you walked or drove down that road.
It was during beautiful, wonderfully hot days while getting wet in the front yard that you would pray not to be the one picked to go to the store. First of all, because it was HOT! Secondly, there was the thought that you may miss out on some fun moment while you were gone. It never failed that someone would slip on the grass, or somebody’s momma would yell at them because they ran outside without doing a chore, or some other important breaking news moment would happen…and no one wanted to miss it first hand. In those days, kids could be sent to the store for almost anything. Our frequent run was for the ‘staples’ (bread, milk, eggs) and cigarettes. Because we were being RAISED, we wouldn’t dare even think about opening the packet. The goal was to get to the store as quickly as possible. In our minds, the short cut to getting there was to jump the fence. Given the challenge of getting through the neighbors yard without caught, then getting over the fence without injury, the few steps that were saved were probably not really worth it. But you got a feeling of accomplishment because you got over that hurtle AND a bonus boost if you were good at it.
I think every girl has at lease one tomboy quality. Mine was climbing. I was good at it. Trees, fences, playground equipment….I was a force to be reckoned with! I wasn’t great at a lot of other outside sporting events, but I owned climbing. I had the kind of allergies that often lead to nose bleeds, so I spent a lot of time on the porch reading so I could avoid embarrassment. But climbing? I had no problem at all chasing the opportunity to climb even if a nose bleed was a threat.
The key to being good at overcoming that hurtle was choosing to get over it. You could take the other route, but if you did you would never achieve that accomplishment. You had to face it head on! Along the way you would definitely get injured, but the battle scars were proof that you had faced the challenge. After all…anybody could ‘say’ that they had jumped the fence, but if you had the scars to prove it – your value could not be challenged. No one would question IF you’d done it…they would just marvel at the answers to the questions of how well and how quickly you met the challenge.
Today, I welcome the battle scars associated with getting the courage to ‘Jump The Fence’. It is harder…and you may face the obstacle of someone trying to stop you on your journey…but once you’ve survived those obstacles, the other side of that fence is Success. You have made it! The scars that you endure are just proof that the accomplishment wasn’t easy, but you still made it.
Find an obstacle in your life and face it head on – Let’s Jump the Fence!!!
Find an obstacle in your life and face it head on – Let’s Jump the Fence!!!
