What can be held in one’s hand (what is grasped) fits nicely, is well under control, can be moved and manipulated at the whim of the holder.
At one’s reach, however, is an array of options, which are less predictable, less controllable, more dynamic and includes a wider slate of unknowns and surprises. In most cases, to pick up something new, one has to let go of something else. Choices and priorities come to bear. Maybe one of the things released gets handed-off (delegated) to someone aspiring to do more.
There’s more comfort (predictability) in what is grasped.
There’s more growth, change, risk, discovery when one reaches.
When I reach, I extend myself into a new arena. I discover something about myself and about my sphere that I did not know before.
May your reach exceed your grasp. A good provocation.
footnote: From today’s NYT. “As more virus research has emerged, however, the outdoors has begun to look safer. It still brings risks (like those doorknobs). But they are fairly small. One study of 1,245 coronavirus cases across China found that only two came from outdoors transmission. Beside the research, something else has also begun to make outdoors seem more attractive. People have started to go stir crazy. This combination is leading to a surge of new expert advice that might be boiled down to: Get out.”
