All it takes is a click of the computer. Just press the blasted key.
Publish the blog. Send that submission. Sign up for that race.
Why is it so hard? Because, then, there are no excuses. You're out there. A good chance of failure in front of multitudes. But the alternative? Looking at the computer screen and seeing all the other blog posts, published writers, photos of runners at the finish line.
My new resolve is to have a click of courage every day (okay, every week. But that's still 52 times more than I did last year!)
Click. Begin my blog. (It only took me nine months to do that one!)
Click. Submit that article, that short story, that book proposal. (And keep on clicking. Publishing is a cold, competitive world filled with creative, courageous clickers.)
Today's click? Sign up for the Auburn Running Festival half-marathon. (It's Saturday. It's now or never.)
I really don't know if I have it in me to run 13.1 miles. I've done it before but I'm older, creakier, not into pain as much. I'm way beyond a finish-time goal. A t-shirt is fine. I have my iPod nano cranked with audio books and podcasts and you-can-do-it music. I have folks to yell at me along the course. And Extreme Moose Tracks ice cream waiting at home. The click to commit to the race is more important than my finish time because it is about the courage to keep being out there.
What "click" of courage do you need to make?
Where have you been hiding? Making excuses? Just afraid? Maybe it's not a click, but a phone call or a step out of the shadows. Calling the friend you've been avoiding. Making that doctor's appointment. Standing on the scale to face reality and deal with it. Interviewing for a new job.
Please let me know I'm not alone in how hard it is to commit.
Tell me your click of courage.
I need to hear your stories. Because like the Cowardly Lion, sometime we need community to help us know what we really want and to drag us down the road to get there.
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Maybe the medals that count aren't for winning but just for showing up and finishing. (It doesn't hurt if you finish on the 50-yard line at Jordan-Hare Stadium!)
Let's start a Courage Club! What is your medal for? Post a photo or let me know!