"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others."

Winston Churchill

We should all realize how fortunate we are to have people like Orrin Woodward and the Team out there proving that courage and heroes still exist today.  That people are still willing to step outside of their comfort zones to help someone else realize they can do it.  They can be better, have more, be who they wanted to be but gave up on so long ago.  Orrin Woodward and the Team have shown that anyone with the courage to try will be supported, nurtured, encouraged, defended, and recognized for their efforts.  We just have to dig up the courage to begin.

Courage To Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk exposing our true self.

To place your ideas & your dreams before the crowd is to risk loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try at all is to risk failure.

But risk we must, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.  The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing.

This saying reminds of an Elbert Hubbard quote that Orrin Woodward is fond of saying, “To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”  Boy, isn’t that the truth.  Stick your head out above the crowd, attempt to leave the land of Ordinary, pursue better, disrupt the status quo (latin for ‘the mess we’re in’),  and LOOK OUT…  All the naysayers, cursers, critics, condemners, complainers, and bloggers come out of the woodwork displaying a major common characteristic… an incredible reliance and foundation upon mediocrity.  What have they accomplished in their lives?  What have they even tried to accomplish?  Even if they did try… to quit and give up so easily, expect others to do the same, and drag everyone else down with them is pitiful and pathetic at the same time.  Take that negative energy and apply it positively in pursuit of something that makes a difference and Wa-La!  Success in the making.  Now that’s a story worth telling!  So, get out there and be a bulldog, stick your head out and risk it all.  Start writing a story worth telling!