A quote about courage from my favorite all time actor “The Duke” John Wayne. I got this one from one of my employees recently. You see I started sending out motivational minute emails to my team over the last few weeks. I am always looking for ways to improve as a leader and encourage my team to do their best at work. I send them out two to three times per week, not always on the same day. I do this so as not to make it a routine thing they see in their email and take for granted but rather conjure up that feeling of expectation not found and wondering when the next one will come out and raise the level of interest. At least in my mind that is how it is working. Some evidence of that is the fact that some of them email me and let me know that I “forgot” to send one out on such and such day and that they enjoy getting them. Little do they know my dastardly plan…buwaaahahahaha… J
I don’t know that it is making a difference to all of them but several have responded that it does and one even goes so far as to respond to me with a motivational quote of his own. This one from John Wayne is one of those. I absolutely love this quote because although it is short, like many powerful and great things of wisdom are, there is much that can be expounded upon when thinking about all of the ramifications such a statement can have when applied to our lives, my life.
I think back to the time I have been scared to move forward on a project, an idea a confrontation that I knew deep down had to take place in order to move forward or be free? Sometimes I have been so scared of taking the next step or making the next move that I have literally was shaking uncontrollably! I think back to those times and remember not even really realizing I was shaking so much and then once I noticed it I was kind of freaking out about how much I was freaking out. I knew I had to do what needed to be done but was fearful of the unknown. Or I knew I did not prepare properly for the thing that I had got myself into, usually because a girl I was in love with was doing it.
Once such occurrence happened early in my high school days. I believe it was 9th or 10th grade. I was about to be the next person on our team to go up and compete in the math competition. I had joined the team partially because I liked math and was good at it. I would have been great at it had I the discipline and guidance to study more of it, but that is another story. I was also there because of a beautiful young brunette girl that I was smitten with. She joined the team and by God I was joining too!
I was so pumped with adrenalin being there in that competition and feeling confident until it came to be my turn to go up. I was third in line and once the first two had come back we chatted about the problems they had to solve. I quickly realized how under prepared I was and that I was going to be (or so I felt) under the scrutinizing eyes of several hundred kids and I WASN’T PREPARED! Or at least as prepared as I felt I should be. I’m pretty hard on myself as far as being a top performer, always have been as long as I can remember.
As it drew nearer to my turn I was sitting down in the auditorium and started to shake like crazy for what seemed an eternity. I wondered how many people were watching me freak the F out! I thought of making some excuse about being sick so I could get the hell out of there. Being sick was not far off from the truth at that moment. I then began to be aware of how silly I was being. I was good at math. I was a smart kid I told myself. I got control of my breath and was able to calm down a bit.
Ok, my turn. I got up out of that seat received words of encouragement from the team, though I only really heard the words and saw the bright eyes and huge smile from the team mate I “loved” (though she did not know it, or at least I didn’t thing I was that obvious.) and went to my spot to compete for the next round. It is funny to me now looking back at this situation and although it was terrifying for me then it give me a good laugh now. I actually did quite well with my problem. It turned out to be something I was good at and finished near the top. Whew, crisis averted. I went back to my group and received congratulations and hugs. Ah….the hug…
So what is the point??? The point is like John Wayne said you may be scared to death of the next step, so much so that you are shaking in your boots or frozen with fear. It takes a hell of a lot of courage to get up in the saddle anyway and go do what you know you need to do even if you don’t want to do it! I knew I was not prepared as much as I should have been but I made a commitment to the team and I got my butt out of that seat and went up to that competition row and competed anyway.
Granted this is a simple childhood store but I think you get the message and can relate it to your own life and the times that you had to dig deep into your well of courage to take the next step. So my friend I say to you that if you are stuck in fear of taking the next step I say to you take a drink out of your own personal well of courage and leap forward. You may not have ever done anything others would consider courageous but everyone has that well to draw from. You just have to open your spirit to see and feel it. Yes I said feel it. Courage is a source of feeling that one gets that despite whatever obstacle stands in their way they shall not retreat or cower and will push through. Many a time I have done that and have felt stronger on the other side of the adversity. And it is true there are time I did not the first or second or third time and felt defeated and weak. Sometimes it took a situation becoming so uncomfortable to me that I had no other choice but to act. The lesson I always learned is that it is better to take action and “saddle up anyway” than to do nothing and fill up my well of courage with stones until there is no well at all.
If you are in a situation where you cannot even comprehend you have a well of courage then I heartfelt kick in the ass to get moving and encourage you to take steps to start picking out the stones that have filled up and hidden your well. I know it is silly to look at a movie star as a hero. What we see on stage or the silver screen is rarely what we see the hero/star act in real life. I believe Marion Michael Morrison (John Wayne) was all that and more. By no means do I infer or believe he was perfect but then neither was the characters he played in film. But one thing is for certain the majority of the characters he portrayed were those who were at some point defeated, scared and outnumbered but had the courage to do what they felt needed to be done.
My friends that is what I wish to impart to you. Have the courage to work, push, cajole, invent whatever you have to do to push past being scared and “saddle up anyway”. It is in this way that we improve our own lives and feel stronger and not only gain momentum but gain mastery over our own lives. We improve our communities, our societies and make a difference in the overall level of love, caring and connectedness in the world.
Go out there and be caring to you fellow human being and be driven to inspire greatness in others!
To you amazing journey in courage,
stormborns
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