There’s something you do that keeps others from being hurt. You do it a lot – whether or not you realize it. Stop, and they’ll hurt. Unless you were stopped, it’s on you.
Don’t stop.
There’s something to look forward to. A hope, a goal, a dream, an adventure, a reward. Despite the doubts and risks and fears it’s yours to pursue. Unless you give up, it’s yours.
Don’t surrender.
There’s something more to your pain. A revealing meaning, a redemptive purpose. There is only one darkness without light, so find the light and believe in it. Unless you close your eyes, it’s shining bright for you.
Don’t suffer.
When I was a young boy, not exactly a strapping athlete or sporting type, I played hard. I did the best I could, and all too often tired quickly. Sometimes I’d hit the ball and make for first. Sometimes I’d catch the pass 10 years down field. Sometimes we were running laps.
It didn’t matter: I hurt, I couldn’t breathe anything but fire from my lungs. And yet a voice would yell out… a classmate… a coach… a friend…
“RUN IT OUT!!!”
“Run it out, Joe!”
“Everything you got – run it out!!!”
“There’s more in there, Joe – get it out and run it out…”
They were right.
Every blasted time.
For a few moments after reaching first base… or sauntering back to the bench after being called out, I hated them for adding to my misery.
Still they were right.
And rather than being stopped, surrendered, or suffering needlessly, I was stronger for it.
Weaker at first, but stronger the next time.
And the next time was the next game.
Sometimes that voice came out of the past through memory, no less needed, no less loud…
“Run it out… YOU CAN DO IT!!!”
The more we focus on ourselves, the more helpless and isolated we feel… the less we can see beyond ourselves to the hopes of today and tomorrow… the more we feel our hurts echoing inside.
Ours is not to question life but to answer it – to answer life with our will, our emotions, our thoughts, our identity. All of it. Everything you got.
Ours is not to be overcome with fears and feelings, doubts and demons. It is to be more than conquerors.
Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the mastery of it – rising with persistence to its resistance, if even by one measure more.
We are weak, growing stronger through persistence.
We are fearful, becoming courageous through boldness.
We are empty, experiencing hope through selflessness.
We are alive, full of purpose, possibilities, and power.We are alive to live it out…
You can do it!
All content, including text, images, and other elements Copyright © 2020 Joel Cranford.
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