NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

That question is posted on a bulletin board in the high school hallway where I work. I read it several times each day. I know it was put there to inspire teenagers to have the confidence to dream big without fear of failure, but it has made me stop and thinkas well. In doing so, I have been reminded of just how naturally it comes to decline to do something due to a thread of doubt that I won’t do well at it.

Years of experience tell me that, by and large, things usually turn out all right; so why would I be discouraged, even sometimes in relativelysimple matters, by the nagging idea that I might flop if I give something a shot? I am not sure but I am trying to make some changes.

Armed with determination to do better, I am making a conscious effort to just say yes more often. I still have no desire to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope, or anything like that, but in circumstances with less dire consequences, I am willing to take more chances. So far, the results have been, well, not earth shattering, by any means, but successful. I have stepped out of my comfort zone a few times at work andwithin my personal life, with positive results. Most likely, no one has noticed but me, but I have celebrated each little step forward.

Yesterday was one of the best rewards received so far. I learned a few weeks ago that the Ozark Native Plant Society was sponsoring a hike to Sweden Creek Falls Natural Area. This is just a couple of miles from where I grew up but was privately-owned land during that time and inaccessible to the public. It is now preserved by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and open to the public for foot traffic. On one hand, I looked forward to this chance to hike the trail; but I could think of several fears that made me think twice. I didn’t know a soul in this organization. Would it be a tight-knit group that wouldn’t appreciate an outsider tagging along? What if they were all experts at plant identification, making my limited knowledge in the area even more apparent? All this, along with the fact that several attempts on my part had resulted in no luckin finding a friend or family member to go with me, made me almost decline the opportunity. How glad I am now that I didn’t let that little negative voice talk me out of going!

Oh, my goodness! For starters, it was a gorgeous day, cooled and dampened from the storms that passed through the evening before. Conditions were just perfect for a hike along the wooded trail that wound down under the bluff and finally to the base of what would be an 80 foot waterfall in a wetter season. The fact that the Ozark Native Plant Society folks are some of the friendliest, most interesting people you could ever meet made for a wonderful day spent in the woods. Members of the group seemed glad that I had showed up and made me feel truly welcome. They had plenty of patience with my beginner-level plant knowledge and took time to answer my questions and to point out a multitude of things I’d never noticed before about plants.

Later in the hike when I offered to submit some of my photographs for their newsletter, one of the group leaders, a botanist for many years, asked if I could also write up an article about what we saw on the trip. Immediately, I thought of the challenge it would be to write on a topic I know so little about. Would I be able to do it justice? Wouldn’t it be better to have someone with more plant identification practice write the article? I wondered. Then the poster from the school hallway crossed my mind.

“Sure, I can do that,” I said in my little-engine-thatcould voice, “just as long as you give me a list of the plants we’ve seen.”

The little engine is willing, all right, but will gladly accept help when needed. Success is often a group effort.

Annette Rowe is a freelance writer from rural Gentry and a speech-language pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by email at awalkinthepark50@ yahoo.com.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 09/12/2012