Courage & Commitment

I recently was reminded that we have at least two options when faced with change. We can bury ourselves under the covers, or seize the moment and dive into the new situation. Of course, diving in takes courage and a willingness to embrace the uncomfortable feelings. The status quo is comfortable, known and at times the easy path. But what if it isn't so comfortable - what if that "rock in your shoe" starts to hurt more than it doesn't. My colleague and mentor John Scherer used to say - "there are two motivators for change - pain and possibility; and pain is the only one I trust". Basically what we know is that when we are in enough pain - we will make the commitment to change.

So when does courage come into play? Imagine when you were 10 years old, diving off the diving board - it was scary, and you didn't know how, but you did it. That was courage. You relied on friends, maybe some basic instruction, perhaps waatching others do it...but in the end it was up to you to dive in.

When we embrace a new beginning, not quite sure of how it is going to turn out - it takes taking a deep breath, creating a plan and then relying on your internal and external resources to follow through. When you are in the midst of needing to embrace a change, think back to a time in your life when you successfully navigated through the "rapids" - what did it take, how did you do it, who helped? Remembering your past successes will give you the confidence and courage to jump in once again.

A quote I often refer to by W. H.Murray:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”