"Country Mouse, City Mouse"

There was a book that my wife and I used to read to our kids when they were young about two mice.  One mouse lived in the country ("Country Mouse") and one mouse lived in the city ("City Mouse").  As it turns out, the story was based upon one of Aesop's Fables ("The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse").  All I remember from the story was that the Country Mouse visited the city and decided that she would rather live in the country. 

I know what you are thinking ("Where is he going with this?").  Well, my wife and I recently made a trip to New York City.  It was the second visit here for both of us (other than a number of stops at one of New York's airports to connect with other flights).  Neither one of us had actually seen much of the city though.  We both wanted to go visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which was actually farther from our hotel than either one of us cared to walk.  The easiest (and most comfortable) thing to do would have been to grab a quick taxi ride, but we chose to push beyond our comfort zones and take the infamous New York City subway system.  It happened to be "rush hour," which made it even worse for us.  Just to be clear, both my wife and I grew up in reasonably large cities in the Midwest, we have lived in some fairly large cities on both coasts, and we currently live in a decent-sized city.  New York City, however, is just on an entirely different level.  So, we both felt like the Country Mouse going to the city.

The important thing is that we pushed outside of our comfort zones and challenged ourselves.  We took a risk, albeit a fairly safe risk, but a risk nonetheless.  The reward was well worth it though.  The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is absolutely a must-see for everyone.  It's an amazing place, sad and depressing, yet inspirational and uplifting at the same time.

Leadership is like that some times.  You have to take risks.  You have to push past your comfort zone.  You have to test your boundaries, and when you do, the reward will be worth it.  And you may even learn that the “infamous” NYC subway system isn’t so bad (and is actually kind of fun).