i dare MYSELF to jump in

Question: What is the best advice you've received by accident?

I confess in this case, this answer came to me before the question, though I like hte idea of accidental advice. While relaxing by the pool yesterday (yes, somehow, in the middle of downtown this happened - and was glorious) I kept dozing in and out of sleep, which makes for some very interesting dream/thoughts. We were next to the children's end of the pool and there was this group of kids who were taunting each other to see who could be more brave in the water. So one kid said, "I dare Rose to jump in and spin around. twice." in a sort of smirky voice. Another said "I dare Michael to jump in the FIVE FEET." And then a slightly younger voice, in what sounded like both an attempt to push himself into inclusion in the game and give him the guts to actually play, said, "I dare myself to jump in!" and jumped.

It made me think about the ways in which we, especially in our 20s, dare ourselves to jump in all the time - a friend of mine just jumped into starting a non-profit in NYC after she had planned on moving to DC to work on capitol hill; other friends are jumping into relationships - or taking next steps of relationships that they never would have thought they would do in the near future. Even last night, just diving into a conversation with someone it may have taken much longer to talk to - because why not?

At some critical point, whatever research, planning, maneuvering goes into making decisions or connections - at some point you have to dare yourself to jump in.

and then I guess you have to just hope you hit water.
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"It wasn't scheming or wickedness that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstandings; above all it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you" - Ian McEwan, Atonement