Get Off The Fence

It’s amazing the lessons one can learn from their children!

Last night at the dinner table, my daughters were engaged in a debate over which two restaurants in our area made the best bread (the apples don’t fall too far from the tree. I love bread too). At one point, the debate got heated. So they decided to take a vote.

There are five members in our household. On the count of three, each person, except me, voted for their favorite bread, which resulted in a tie. Why didn’t I vote? The decision was too hard to make. As a result, I got to be the tie breaker.

Mommy!! Which one do you pick?, they both yelled.

My answer: “I’m on the fence”!

Boy did that start something.

Daughter #1: You cant’t be on the fence. You have to make a decision.
Daughter #2: That’s the coward’s way out! You must choose!!
Daughter #1: You can’t get ahead in life if you don’t make a decision.

After several moments of yelling, criticizing, coercing, and prodding, I made a decision, and while one side of the table lost the debate over the greatest bread maker in the area, we were able to move on to bigger and better discussions.

This small, and what seemed insignificant, discussion turned out to be a great life lesson. In order to get ahead in life, you have to make decisions even when you don’t want to.

The fence is a very uncomfortable place to plant yourself. It doesn’t move and therefore you are neither moving forward nor falling backward. The fence keeps you stationary and stagnant. When you are on the fence, others will aggressively exert and impose their position just to get a rise out of you. While you are sitting in the fence, others will walk away and leave you there to figure things out on your own. Sitting on the fence keeps you out of reach and out of play. Sitting on the fence gives you splinters!

So the next time you are faced with making an uncomfortable decision, take a risk and move ahead. Make a decision. Don’t sit on the fence.