May 7, 2012

20 minutes of change

What kind of difference can 20 short minutes make? Depending on how you look at it, it's less than the majority of an hour or it's 1,200 incredibly long seconds. 

For these buffalo, 20 minutes meant the difference between putting their noses to the ground and slogging through the beating snow and a leisurely walk in the park (Yellowstone National Park, that is). 

At the famous Old Faithful Geyser, 20 minutes can be the deciding factor between barely differentiating slight upward movement from the slanted, barreling snow and waiting another 40 minutes after it's cleared for the usually awe-inspiring natural explosion to take place again.  

If you're driving through America's first national park, 20 minutes can be the difference between being wide-eyed or white-knuckled on the road.


20 minutes can bring dramatic change, especially if you're talking about Wyoming weather.
But what about 20 seconds?



I loved a lot of things about this movie (seriously... they bought a ZOO!), but this quote really stuck with me. 20 seconds of insane courage could change nothing more than the next 20 seconds of your life or it could be the action you need to change the next 20 years.

It took me less than 20 seconds to say "yes" to a new job offer, but it felt like it took all 24 years of my life to muster up the courage I needed to say it. That short moment of insane courage then gave me two weeks to change my state of residence, change my career, change my surroundings, dramatically change my immediate and potentially long-term future.

Now, on my first day of that new career I said "yes" to, I feel like I'm going to need a Santa sack (you know, like the never-ending kind) full of those 20-second spurts of insane courage.

It's terrifying to start something new; trusting your gut and going all in on what just feels right. Really, why does it always make your gut hurt so much to get up the courage to just follow it? Maybe that's just me... but here's to hoping something great comes of it today.

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