Last night, at the dinner table, my oldest daughter asked if we could play “Truth or Dare.” My wife and I looked at each other, and I slowly said, “Ooookkkaaayy.”
Of course, the game was incredibly tame. One truth question was, “Which would you rather be, a dog, or a cat?” And the dare, which was really cute, was, “I dare you to get up from the dinner table, and walk around and give everyone at the table a hug.”
Sometimes, the items we worry about most are the items we should spend little time worrying about at all. In other words, we can get so frightened by what might be, that we miss an opportunity to welcome a situation that actually does more good than bad.
To use the “Truth or Dare” example, we could have responded in the negative to playing the game, worried that it might be something inappropriate. But, then we would have lost the chance for some great family bonding over what was a really cute interpretation of the game.
How do we know when to take those risks and when not to? Part of it is based on experience, certainly, but the other part is our own comfort with risk. We can always assume the best, and take risks, knowing that if they result in something bad we simply avoid them next time. The benefit of that approach is it makes it clear that we have best intentions and the most open-thinking in mind.
This little game of “Truth or Dare” led me to rethink my own approach to situations that might be “risky.” I would rather welcome innocence and hope that situations end well, than assume the worst, and squelch a potentially great scenario.