Start the day with a stupid, dumb little joke?
What’s a pirates favorite letter?
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You think it’s the R, but he loves the C more!
Maybe follow it up with some stupid pictures?
Aaaaand finally and least funny-ly, maybe close out with something completely irrelevant that I found interesting or inspirational from the previous day?
Happy Tuesday!
I’ve definitely posted this quote before after finishing his book, but here’s a phenomenal quote from Nelson Mandela that’s referenced a ton:
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
It’s such a good quote… because we often think that people are brave. And, because they are brave, they can do scary things.
But it’s actually the opposite of that. If they weren’t afraid of the things, they wouldn’t be scary. And if they’re not scared, then it requires no bravery. Bravery comes from being scared and doing the thing that scares you anyway.
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Now, I wouldn’t call myself brave. People that know me, even just as an acquaintance, probably know that I’m scared of a ton of things. But I heard the Nelson Mandela quote, or a variation of it, on a podcast recently before going out to surf the other morning.
We’ve had a ton of stingrays lately, and naturally I’m kicking the ground as I’m getting into the water and a stingray is stirred up and swims right past my foot. I didn’t really feel like continuing to walk through what felt like a minefield of stingrays who’ve buried themselves under the sand, but I thought of that quote and did anyway…. I was fine and had a great morning.
The next morning, the waves were much bigger than I prefer for where I surf and I was sketching out a little while paddling out and for the first 15-20 minutes, I was super uneasy and wanted to head back to shore…. But I thought of the quote and stayed out and with each “huge” set, I was became more and more comfortable with the waves that day. I only caught two decent waves (for my crappy skill level) in about an hour of being out in the water, but my confidence went through the roof by going through my fear instead of turning and running from it.
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Hopefully, I don’t sound like a huge douchebag saying, “look at how brave and tough I am!!!” That’s not what I’m trying to say. Pretty much the opposite, in fact.
But what I’ve been seeing is that rewards in self-growth and confidence and just general living of life is on the other side of fear. And we aren’t born with “bravery”… we have to force ourselves to be brave to attain these rewards.
So, I’m going to keep trying to do stuff that scares me, within reason, and maybe you do the same for a thing or two this week?
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Have a great day!