Did she really say that to me?!?!?

When I was in fourth grade, 10 of us were ushered into a small room.

Two computers.

(None of us had ever used a computer, you see! They were brand new to our school.)

Mrs. Steele spoke proudly of their capabilities. Then she looked around the room and smiled at each of us. We were to be the first children to use them!!!

“Who wants to be first?” Milo raised his hand.

“OK, who’s next? There are two, don’t be shy!”

I looked around the room and nobody else volunteered.

So I said, “I’ll go.”

Mrs. Steele’s smile disappeared and her voice turned cold. “Since the two of you just HAD to be first, you’ll be last.”

Do you know what that incident taught me?

NEVER to volunteer. Just to wait.

I wasted almost 40 years waiting. If it was for me, it would just happen.

I’ve done a lot of mindset work over the past few years, and now I’m willing to volunteer again, to put myself out there, to risk.