Categories: Wisdom

Believe, and Bring Your Flak Jacket

Moonshots. Vision. BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).

They go by different names, but they all require the same fuel.

You gotta believe. You gotta go big. All in. You must see what your eyes do not.

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviator, poet, and journalist, circa 1930

Of course there’s nothing wrong with small steps, quick wins, and slow progress or even staying still. These are not mutually exclusive.

Ignite True Courage

And counting the cost is the spark that can ignite true courage because you know exactly what you’re getting into. And still you go.

That’s because there must be a guiding North Star. A True North — to orient and calibrate the journey.

Not just for yourself, but for those around you. Your family, your friends, your community, your Church group, your business, your crew.

This will help you answer the questions that grow loudest when you’re stuck in the mud, or a crater smashes into your path.

Flak Jacket

The clarity and conviction forms a flak jacket around your heart when the enemy’s shrapnel explodes all around you.

“Why do I exist? Why do any of us exist? Why are we here?”

It is far better to reach high and flop than to be afraid and only stare longingly after those who fly.

Worst of all, we’ll never know who we were meant to be.

 

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Eleanor Roosevelt, diplomat, and activist, former First Lady, circa 1940

When it comes down to it, we need to trust that when we dare beyond ourselves, on the other side is the impossible made possible.

Planes are designed to leave the safety of the ground. And so are you.

Ships are designed to push out of the shallows. And so are you.

Man is designed to give his life in pursuit of the highest. He can’t do that if he’s shackled by fear.

Whatever roadblock. Whatever obstacle.

Whatever naysaying resistance you feel today: Be. Not. Afraid. Only believe.

pilot

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