Test the Waters
I’m not proud of this, but when I was a young man at the lake on a family vacation, my brother and I decided we’d play a trick on our younger sister. We crouched down in shallow water so the water would look deeper than it was and convinced our sister it would be really fun for her to dive in and join us.
Being the trusting sort, she executed a graceful dive from the elevated bank (she’s a dancer, after all). She parted the shallow water and planted her face in the mud, then crumpled in on herself, coming up sputtering with a mouthful of sand. My brother and I hastily swam away, laughing ourselves silly while the rest of the family rolled with their own hysterical laughter. In retrospect, we were lucky she didn’t break her neck and become paralyzed.
I’ve often felt bad about that incident, but there’s a lesson in it. Too often we’re invited to dive into a business opportunity by those we should be able to trust, but who have an agenda of their own. Before you dive into anything, no matter who is encouraging you, test the waters first.
