Being brave

I know a lot of people who work very hard. Don’t get me wrong hard work can be a good thing, but have you ever known someone to work hard simply to avoid doing something that scares them? I know a few people like that too…

Hard work can be a good thing, but sometimes it’s more of an effort at evasion than something that will actually give us the progress we want. Sometimes hard work is just a way to avoid scary work.

Scary work

At the local university I know a number of professors that will do all sorts of unnecessary calculations and manipulations to avoid learning how to use the gradebook in the universities online learning management system.

I had an uncle who repeatedly got demoted because the scut jobs that low ranking enlisted men did scared him less than actually having to be in charge of anything.

I myself have occasionally been known to mark a project as ‘needing more research’ just because I was unwilling to actually go on the record and do something.

We all have things that scare us. Sometimes that fear is a quite rational thing. Some situations are dangerous to life and limb. But, sometimes that fear is because we are about to expose our own weaknesses: the things we’re not good at, the things we don’t know, the things we might be wrong about, and so on.

The really dangerous scary things should sometimes be avoided, but sometimes they are absolutely necessary. Yes, facing off against a rabid animal might be scary, but if you’re doing it to save your child it’s important.

The second set of scary things includes our opportunities for growth, our chances to exceed what we have done before and become better. That kind of scary is marking the things that will probably be hard work (in the beginning at least), but have the potential to pay off big. You really might want to do those…

Scary not edgy

Scary doesn’t necessarily mean edgy.

Scary includes things that we are afraid of doing. Edgy might include those as well, but also includes things that are just flirting with poor taste.

Doing edgy things is something performers do to get attention.

Doing scary things can lead to growth.

It is really a question of purpose and discernment. Do you need to be doing X? If so why?

If your purpose is good, then do it.

If your purpose is just to get a rise out of someone, then you might want to reconsider.

Doing hard things can be good. It certainly isn’t anything to be ashamed of.

Doing edgy things may attract attention. But they might not be worth it in the long run.

It’s doing the scary things that helps us grow.

That’s it for this one dear reader. Next time…

What can we learn from a song?