“Status Quo”

Have you ever stopped to think what this means?  Former president Ronald Reagan stated, “Status quo, you know, that is Latin for `the mess we’re in`.”   I always thought of the “status quo” as something I wanted!  Now that I have read Mr. Reagan’s definiton, I know for sure I don’t want to just stick with the “status quo” anymore.  Being comfortable is great, but it never gets you anywhere. 

Me about the age I learned to act when you are afraid!

I started learning to step out of my comfort zone when I was about 12.  This is the age when most girls get interested in boys, and I was no different.  I wanted to be popular and all the popular people went to the roller rink on Friday nights.  My group of girlfriends decided we were going to go there this particular Friday, and if it hadn’t been for my mom, I never would have gone.  I had a little problem.  I was scared to death to go because the boys that I liked were going to be there and that made me throw up!  Can you believe that I was so afraid to be at the same public place as the boys I liked that I actually puked?  I was embarrassed at home and  if it happened at the skating rink I would be the laughing stock of the 7th grade. 

My mom has always been a great teacher, and that night was no different.  She told me that I had to go because I was afraid!  This was before she got her Doctorate!  How inciteful and profound that advice was.  I did have to hear it quite a few more times before I was convinced that going skating that night was the right thing to do.  I could have stayed home and not puked and been perfectly happy with the “status quo”, but then I would never have gotten to skate with the boy I liked either.  After that night, there were a lot more events that’s caused me to lose my lunch.  Instead of giving in and staying safe, I was always encouraged to go and do the things that made me afraid. 

I will always be grateful for this lesson from my mom!  Acting when I am afraid has kept me on the verge of revisiting a lot of meals, but it has also kept me from being stuck in “status quo” for too long.  By doing things afraid, I was able to travel to Italy when I was 15, get my private pilot’s license, race cars, give my first injection when I was in nursing school, travel with 4 kids without my husband, and write this blog for the world to see.  Whenever I start feeling comfortable, and an opportunity comes along that makes me want to barf, if it’s not illegal,immoral or against my values, I think about the skating rink when I was 12.  It may take me a few days or weeks to work up the nerve, but in my heart of hearts, I know I just have to go out there and do it afraid or I will just be stuck in the mess I’m in.

When you are most afraid, it is the time you most need to act!  Thank you mom!