Brave: Welcome to my blog series, 50 ROCKS: Life Lessons for Success. It was inspired by my unique 50th birthday gift: a box filled with 50 gold-painted rocks, each depicting a special nugget about me and just how much “50 ROCKS.” It’s my inspiration to share life lessons for personal and business success through a weekly blog.
God Bless America: Home of the Brave
More than 200 years ago, 56 brave men put their lives and property at risk by signing a historic document declaring America as a free country. It is this act of bravery that led to the freedom of America, and it is the anniversary of this event that we celebrate every 4th of July.
brav·ery:the quality that allows someone to do things that are dangerous or frightening
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
Writing this blog is an act of bravery: it has taken me years to find the courage to believe in myself enough to think that others would want to follow along. Sharing my personal thoughts and feelings in the days of virtual perpetuity is frightening. Every word can come back to haunt you.
Funny, it took my finding an old folder full of testimonial letters to realize that I’m not so bad after all. A year of un/underemployment really kicks the living daylights out of you. Yes, even a tough Garfield girl like me! For a while, it felt brave just to get out of bed in the morning. After so many failed attempts at finding the RIGHT job, and so many steps in the long process to rebuilding my keynote speaking and consulting career, I admit that the comforts of my room were about all I thought I could handle.
Instead I committed to a schedule: rise before 7AM, meditate to set my intentions for the day, check the weather and read the newspaper. (Yes, the real paper kind). Then hit the gym or hike in my neighborhood or hit golf balls after my son leaves for school. When you’re feeling down, it’s important to set a schedule and FOCUS on priorities aligned with a calendar.I now start my workday by 8:30 like the rest of the adult working world I left behind. Now i put the best nutrition into my body, I focus on success as I celebrate my TIME FREEDOM.
The BRAVERY of relaunching my consulting and keynote speaking in this horrendous economy is my badge of courage.. Like those soldiers, I have to step up and protect my property and livelihood. I’m applying the skills I learned from my mentor and social media trainer, @phylliskhare. Her TimeBliss.ME program inspired me to really commit my brave new goals to a calendar so that I properly allocate time to achieve them. This organized approach to bravery led to the freedom of financial worries that once plagued me (and many thousands more like me who have fallen from blazing careers into the fiery pits of under-employment and rebuilding hell).
@phylliskhare‘s TimeBliss.ME inspired me to commit my brave new goals to a calendar so I can achieve them. #50Rocksbit.ly/50RocksBeBrave
There are so many heroes who deserve our prayers and respect for their bravery: firefighters and police officers and the soldiers who protect us. Patients fighting cancer or other serious afflictions. Heck, the FAMILIES and caregivers of those suffering. Single moms trying to make ends meet to feed their kids. workers learning new skills, new languages or new roles to hang onto their jobs for dear life. I could go on. But the truth is, these folks are ALL braver than me. I bow to them all, God Bless them.
“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.
But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. That is the sort of bravery I must have now.”
― Veronica Roth, Allegiant
Pat Roque