Posts Tagged ‘courage’
These Bullets Are Real
Saturday, September 10th, 2011
My 19 year old son Max and I went to a shooting range yesterday. Being raised in the rural regions of Upstate NY I’ve grown up with guns. Max on the other hand had never shot a weapon in his life. And even though I had experience, it has been nearly 30 years since I last fired a gun. In addition to having some great father-son time together, we both came to a sobering realization. It’s one thing to pull the trigger, but it is quite another to be on the receiving end…
We got to shoot some pretty awesome weapons including 9mm, .40 and .45 semi-automatic pistols, a .50 caliber revolver (that was more of a hand cannon!) and a very cool semi-automatic assault rifle. In case you were wondering, my favorite was the .45 caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol. Apparently I wore a big grin every time I got to fire it. That was quite an introduction to firearms for someone who had never even previously held one in his hand.
As we were shooting away, Max and I both started to think about how horrible it must be dodging bullets fired from these powerful weapons. Something our brave men and women in the armed forces have to do every day.
It’s one thing to see shooting on TV, in movies or a video game. It’s quite another experiencing its deadly power first hand. Yesterday Max and I had a crash course on how to shoot safely, properly and somewhat straight. But most of all, we gained an appreciation for how much courage our fighting men and women have and all they give just so we have the freedoms we do.
Think on this as you consider dodging the “bullets” that business may send your way this coming week. You get hit by one of those it may ruin your day, but it won’t take your life.
Just How Much Is Certainty Costing You?
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Do you ever have those days where you would prefer to stay snuggled in bed and not face the uncertainties of business, or life? Someone once said that being in control is an illusion, and we might as well add the notion of certainty to that as well.
When things are going well it’s natural to feel “certain” that they will continue. And the same for when things are going badly. But in either case, there is no certainty, just constant change.
As human beings, we are hard-wired to crave certainty (that’s why we were all suckered into believing those fancy securities rating agencies that gave mortgage-backed securities AAA ratings).
There is really only one thing we can be certain of —our ability to choose to move forward even in the face of uncertainty. Moving forward will not guarantee (there’s that darn certainty thing again!) results, but it does guarantee a chance for it…
The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness. The average man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to infinity.
Carlos Castaneda
We are all saddled with the same primitive survival instincts that cause us to seek out certainty. Thankfully we were also given the gifts necessary to rise above those reactive tendencies. Whether you seek the solace of certainty, or have the courage to move forward despite the lack of it, is totally up to you —and that IS something you can be certain about.
