Dualism: Comfort vs Courage
“I think the things you regret most in life are the things that you didn’t do.”
- Steve Jobs
I was listening to Jerry Jeff Walker the other day and I got caught in a line from his song “Like a Coat from the Cold”. “I found comfort and courage in bottles of whiskey.” Two words were linked. Comfort and Courage. I started to play with these words. What did they mean to me?
I totally understood what he was talking about … I’ve been there so many times, when I was younger, that I can no longer smell whiskey without getting nauseous … but I took these two words, Comfort / Courage, away from the song and put them in the context that I was thinking of at the time.
Comfort to me is something that is safe. Courage is taking steps to be less than safe. Comfort is where you go when you want to slow down. Courage is where you go when you want to move forward. Comfort is when you stay in the same job that you hate. Courage is reaching farther than you ever could have imagined.
Which one are you? How have you lived your life? Comfort or Courage.
I speak around the country and have heard so many stories about, “I had the chance to go to …” or “I wish I would have taken that job …” When I ask “Why didn’t you?” They stop, they look down at their hands, and give me some excuse why it wasn’t “the right time”.
Let me tell you something, Courage has no “right time”. You don’t get to plan to be “Courageous”. You either are or you aren’t. Courage is all about passion. If you have an opportunity to be given a chance to change your life and you need to think about it, then it’s not your passion, or you’re too comfortable working for someone else’s dreams.
I know I’ll get some blow-back from that statement, but that’s okay – it’s the way I see it.
If you are wanting to argue that you have courage let me, ask you: What would you be willing to give up to chase your passion?
That’s what having courage is about. That’s what chasing your passion costs. Are you willing to give up everything you have, comfort-wise, to go chase your passion?
You might want to ask me, “what have I given up to chase my passion?” Good question.
I gave up every bit of comfort I had in 1991. I left a teaching / coaching position and I was living rent free. What did I trade it for? A job that paid $400 a month 10 months of the year. Rent was $450 … 12 months of the year. I left my apartment at 4:30 am and would return after 10:00 pm. I took 3 – 4 graduate classes each semester. My classes were on the opposite side of campus … and it was uphill (not both ways – now that would have taken real courage!).
What did I get? Everything that I ever dreamt of.
Have the courage to chase your horizon rather than living with the fear of losing what makes you comfortable.
Have an amazing day!
