“You can be comfortable or courageous, but you cannot be both.”
Okay folks, this is my monthly slap-palm-on-forehead post. I read these quotes on twitter and pinterest, and immediately felt a gut-wrenching blow to my self awareness. I’m comfortable, in so many ways… I’m sitting in my favorite overstuffed chair while typing this. I decided (a few weeks ago) that I’m over being comfortable, and getting nowhere with my feet propped up. I’m ready to be COURAGEOUS!
With all of the courage I could scrape together, I submitted the first 250 words of Descent to Dianne K. Salerni. She posts submissions on her blog each month, and offers a critique… But that’s not all folks! While my words are posted on her blog, ANYONE can go read them and offer feedback! Add to that, Marcy S. Hatch also posted the content on her blog! Double Whammy!
This may not sound like a big deal to some people, so lemme break it down…
Take the rainbow you love, and have worked on with all of your extra time and effort. Send your rainbow to leprechauns that have not only made beautiful rainbows themselves, but their rainbows have pots of gold at the end of them. The leprechauns then share your rainbow with other leprechauns and they all have a good time debating if your color scheme works and if the arch is symmetrical. We all want a pot of gold at the end of our rainbow, and in my case I reaped the equivalent in the feedback I received on both blogs. I’ve learned that jumping out of my comfort zone pays off.
I’m not sure most people would agree that I was courageous, but I felt empowered and encouraged after the whole thing was said and done. It’s true, you can’t be comfortable and courageous at the same time. I’d also like to remind you (and myself) that you won’t win every battle. Courage is what carries your hard work and talent into the unknown. Being comfortable is overrated. I’d much rather challenge myself, and experience the exhilaration and gratification that comes from learning about loss and triumph.
So, give courage a try. It’s not like comfort is going anywhere.
*A note of thanks to the lovely bloggers that hosted me, Dianne K. Salerni and Marcy S. Hatch.
