My Take Tuesday: Wide Open Spaces

As a child growing up in Castle Dale, Utah, my world revolved around the small farm my family kept. We raised sheep, cattle, and chickens, and our days followed the rhythm of the pastures. One of my favorite moments came whenever we opened the gate to a new field. Whether it was fresh grass, muddy ground, or even a blanket of snow, the animals’ reaction never changed.

They would run. They would leap. They would frolic with an almost reckless joy. It didn’t matter if the new pasture was bigger, smaller, or no different than the one before—what mattered was the space. Wide open space seemed to unlock something within them, as if freedom itself was a tonic for the soul.

The older I get, the more I realize that people aren’t so different. Too often I catch myself living inside a self-imposed corral, surrounded by fences I’ve built for the sake of safety and predictability. I tell myself these barriers keep the predators out, but in truth, they mostly keep me in. And I suspect I’m not alone.

It feels secure to stay in our comfortable pastures, never risking, never stretching, never stepping into the unknown. But in doing so, we risk something far greater—missing out on the fullness of what life can offer. Comfort breeds mediocrity, and mediocrity never leads to growth.

Mark Twain once wrote, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.” That line has always struck me. True progress, whether for animals or people, requires challenge. And challenge always comes wrapped in uncertainty, inconvenience, and even a little fear.

So today, I remind myself: it’s time to unlatch the gate. To step beyond the familiar fences. To feel the wind of possibility at my back. Like those sheep in Castle Dale, it’s time to leap and run, not because the ground is better on the other side, but because freedom itself is worth the risk.

With that, I throw off the bowlines. I set sail from the safe harbor, toes over the edge of the bow, heart open to the wide open.

It is time to explore, to dream, and to discover.

And that is my take.

N. Isaac Bott, DVM