This reminds me of something that I’d like to finally share with you. I will tell you right now that you are not going to believe this story. This story sounds so absurd but I am telling you now that this is REAL. And this story made me realize something good. Can’t really imagine what good can come out of this but you’ll see my point. So, here it goes.
My buddy (we’ll call him Max), his girlfriend (we’ll call her Ashley) and his guy friend (let’s call him Jake) just came back from a late-night dinner. Everyone was having a good time. Max and Ashley thought it was cool to bring Jake along because he was a good guy and fun to hang with. They were having a great time but it was time to head back home and call it a night.
So they get to the hotel and go into the elevator. Jake was in the back of the elevator and Max and Ashley were by the door, with Max’s back turned to Jake as the doors close and they’re on their way up.
As they were slowly going up, Ashley screamed, “Eww!” Max asked, “What’s wrong?” Ashley pointed and Max turned around, only to see Jake, with his pants at his ankles making kissy faces to Ashley. Now I know Max. He’s a good guy and I know he’s going to keep his cool, even in times of absurdity. He was obviously creeped out by Jake’s actions and immediately told him to knock it off and put his pants back on. Max turns back around toward Ashley and looks up to notice that they’re about 5 more floors until they can get off. Then things get more ridiculous.
This time, Ashley screams, “oh, my God! What are you doing?”
Max turns around and sees his friend Jake with now his underwear down his jewels tucked in between his legs, still making kissy faces. This time, Max was not so cool. He shoves Jake and Jake trips over his pants around his ankles and falls back onto the wall of the elevator. At that time, Max and Ashley reach their floor and practically sprint off, leaving Jake in the elevator, pantsless and wondering what happened.
Max later told me that he forgave his friend and because of different culture interpretation, Jake thought that because Ashley was being friendly to him, he thought she wanted to have sex with him.
I know, it sounds absurd but in other cultures this is the normal. I guess it would make sense to include the fact that no alcohol was consumed prior to this event.
So what about this story made me think of something good? Well, clearly this is about breaking your social comfort…and taking off your pants.
We are all afraid to do something that we’re not used to. You know it’s going to be nerve-racking because you don’t know what may result. That in turn causes you to freak out and not want to do it. Do you ever get over it and just do it? No? Well here is my motivation to you. Take off your pants and go for it!
Now don’t really take off your pants, but consider this. We live in a world where anything is possible. You will only live once and time does not stop. On the timeline of your life, there are things that you will always remember. Then, there are things that you don’t remember. Now this might be a little difficult to type but try and try and follow me here.
All of these things that you don’t remember, those things are made up of good and bad experiences. Maybe you were picked on a lot in elementary school. Maybe, there was this one time where you tripped in the cafeteria and everyone laughed at you. Maybe, you said something to a group of people and you were totally embarrassed and they made fun of you. Those events aren’t important to you now, right? Then what makes today any different?
See that gorgeous woman walking by you? Say something. She might continue to walk by you and you’ll never see her again. Or maybe she’ll stop and talk to you. Either way, you may not ever see her again and years from now you’ll forget her. But…what if she likes you and you get to see her again? What if she really likes you and she becomes your girl? What if you two fall in love and get married? What if she fulfills every void in your life you didn’t even think you had? That to me is worth at least, “Hi.”
But it doesn’t stop there. What if you want to try a different career? What if you hate your job? Not sure what will happen? Doesn’t sound safe to just leave your secure job and try something a little more risky? But what if you do and you come across a multi-million dollar idea? Or what if you just find a job that makes you happy and wouldn’t mind doing it for the rest of your life? Isn’t that worthwhile to venture off and look for it?
If you are in a position where you are not satisfied with where you are in your life, you need to forget everything you learned prior to that moment and just go out there. You won’t have any armor to hide behind, you’ll be more vulnerable and exposed but isn’t that the time when we learn the most? Stepping outside your comfort box is a hard thing to do, but you have to remember, you don’t have much to lose and so much more to gain. After a while, you'll get used to it and trying new things just to better yourself will be something you'll want to do all the time. Just be conscious of your circumstances before going for it. You certainly have my support in trying something new and going beyond your comfort. Hey, who knows? Maybe that area outside your comfort zone may actually be…comfortable.
So take off your pants! But please – use discretion.