Courage

Nothing happens until courage steps up to the plate and swings the bat.

Karl Barth, a Swiss Theologian once said, 

          “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

Are you facing a tremendous decision? 

Ready to launch something new,

                        something bold and revolutionary? 

Are you afraid?

Good. 

Eddie Rickenbacker said 

“There can be no courage unless you are scared. 

Courage is doing what you are afraid to do.”

John Maxwell says 

“Courage begins with an inward battle.  

Courage isn't an absence of fear.  

It’s doing what you are afraid to do.”  

Before I launched my weekly blogs and the commitment to stick with them, I was just a wannabe writer.  I had been published before, but that was in the past and no one remembers what I said back then. 

What about today?  I had to risk being rejected by readers, having people opt out of receiving my blogs, but mostly I had to commit to myself that I was going to be a writer no matter what.  I had to screw my courage to the sticking place. 

Courage is the willingness to take a risk – the one character trait shared by all great and effective men and women.

The death of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers, was just announced this week.  Talk about a man of courage. 

Steve was a visionary, an innovator, and a forward thinking individual.  I love his line “Let’s Go Invent Tomorrow.”  (See my Sept. 15, 2011 blog "Let's Go Invent Tomorrow" Blog)

Look at the tomorrows that Steve invented.  He changed our world for the good.  That took tremendous courage.  He had no assurance that people would respond to his ideas.  But he had courage.

Did Steve Jobs have fear?  Most likely he had it in buckets and truck loads.  But he faced his fears, gathered his courage closely around him and stepped up to the plate. 

BAM!

He hit home runs

May you find your courage in buckets and truckloads and step up to the plate. 

You just might hear the roar of the crowds as you round third base headed for home.