What If?

Well it is a new day and a new year. What will I do this wonderful year? I can remember when I used to dream I would skydive or go river rafting without a vest:) Well a funny thing I have noticed is that as I age I suddenly have greater reservations about the things I will do. I think about family and my mortality more, and ask "What if?" alot. What if something happens? What if I get hurt? What if I don't like it? What if I change my mind?
When I look at people who do great things I think they may ask the same question but perhaps put the emphasis on a different syllable. Instead of "what if" we die or get lost or have to eat at a greasy diner in the Himalayas, they think "what if" we meet a villager who shares their only banana or "what if" we sail all the way around the world without sinking or "what if" we land on the moon? It literally changes from Oh Dear to Oh Boy!
I used to think that way all the time, never a negative concern or worry, which could explain my many broken bones and the constant redirection from countless old people. While I am not trapped in caution, I do have to fight it more. I don't want to worry about the "what ifs" for things going wrong but the "what if" I don'ts thinking about the things I might miss.
I am grateful I did not grow up afraid to venture. I would have missed venturing into unexplored Virginia woods and discovering Hannah and Silas Burke's' headstones. A great find for the town of Burke and their relatives and a whole Tom Sawyer kind of adventure for 4 bored girls.
I would have missed painting murals in Tulsa at a children's school or at a Vermillion college dorm despite my lack of any exceptional art skills. They came out all right too. Took second place in the contest. Go Team!
I would have missed getting thrown from a horse, working as a volunteer on a rural ambulance and camping in the Red River Gorge. And I would have missed traveling into Mexico to a remote community to stay at an orphanage and do repairs to their homestead or traveling around the world to India to teach college students and meet people in jungle villages. I would have missed seeing great things happen miraculously, the kind I had only read about in the Bible. I would have missed it all.
I remember where I was when the Apollo landed on the moon. Watching on our 21 inch black and white television we watched intently and captured the image when they touched down. I remember thinking "Wow, what if they hadn't gone?" But they did and they made it and they walked on the moon! I want to do that, don't you?
So as I start out my new year I am going to capture every thought and look at the possibilities instead of the risk. I am going to dream of the future and not focus on the past. I am going to land on the moon, well, not really but you get the drift. It is a chance to take steps and have a grand adventure. I am ready!

Jer 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.