I was invited to go wedding dress shopping with my daughter Mindy last week. I was part of her entourage along with my wife Barb, and our other daughter Kelli. I’m not sure what role or character I represented in that entourage, but suffice it to say I was the one responsible for bringing the credit card.

I’d seen portions of the reality television shows about wedding dress shopping. I decided to eschew all that “Intel” and approach it was a tabula rasa mentality. I figured that ignorance was the safest way.

The entire experience was a blast. Mindy found the dress she adored, and not one fight broke out. A television audience would have been disappointed. One thing that I found fascinating was that I was the only man in the store. In fact, according the the dress stylist, fathers never came to these. I was something of an outlier.

My guess is that many men have either been discouraged from attending by the female side of the entourage, or they feared being bored, frustrated, or getting in hot water. While the latter did cross my mind, I figured I’d take the risk, especially since I was encouraged to participate. I’m glad I did.

We are faced daily with opportunities where a decision must be made in moving forward or not. If you allow outdated norms, naysayers, past experiences, or fear guide you, there’s a great chance you’ll miss out on something special. As importantly, you will often get the chance to encourage someone else to be bold and take a risk that you think is worth taking. That source of inspiration may be just what they need to boldly move ahead.

Quote of the Week:

“Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”
~ Winston Churchill

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