a stirring...(p.32)
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
-Anais Nin
John Everett Millais-Joan of Arc (1885)
I've written about courage before.
One writes about what one needs.
I look at history and read about ordinary people making a decision that shifts our course.
Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks, Todd Beamer, Candy Lightner, and Malala Yousafzai come to mind.
And then there are all the others that we will never know about.
My fascination is personal.
My thoughts always wonder about my effect on this world
…that there is a mark to be made.
The ocean needs ripples, but I am speaking more like a wave.
I know it's wildly crazy…me, one who only takes small steps,
who doesn't want to be the center of attention,
who never spoke up in school…
dreams of moving the world in some way.
That's rather bold.
Almost foolish, except that I know waves only come through us, not from us.
One might think it was my age speaking, but I have felt this way since childhood.
How many of you have a stirring that can't be hushed?
Who am I?
Who am I not?
Courage is courage, whether for a ripple or a wave.
Go after whatever is on your heart. There doesn't always have to be a net…there won't be a net,
or it wouldn't be courage that's needed.
The most important thing is to do something.
Climb on stage,
raise your hand,
say yes,
say no,
press send,
apply,
quit,
stand up,
sit down,
take charge,
or speak up…
the basic step is small, but the ripple or the wave has been set in motion.
Ripple, wave, it doesn't matter which.
Just do the thing. Make a move.
Right or wrong, works or doesn't,
It does not matter.
It's that you listened to that unexplainable feeling,
the one you can't give reasons why and the outcome isn't in focus at all,
and yet you take the picture anyway…
and it comes out beautiful.
As I said, I write what I need to work out myself.
Maybe you hear a whisper too.
One of my favorite speeches is Theodore Roosevelt's “The Man in the Arena.” It stirs something in me every time.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.”
Have a beautiful week.❤️
