Brave
Nothing worthwhile in life comes easy. It takes courage and often discomfort to find success with your life's passion.
I saw The Hobbit this past weekend and while I'll try not to get too far off track in talking about it, I would have to say that it's my favourite Middle-Earth film thus far due to its completeness in portraying the book. There were additional story lines interwoven in the film that were not seen in the book, in order to extend the rather short novel into a trilogy, but they only helped to add tension to the film. As far as I know, most of the additional stuff added to the movie is actually part of Middle-Earth lore, so fans can't complain.
More in line with today's post are two important points I took away from watching The Hobbit:
- Life's an adventure. You should never settle for comfort. Be BRAVE and do something to better yourself every single day. - Tweet This
- If I could do absolutely anything I would live in Middle-Earth, or any similar fantasy world for that matter. There'd be no guns. You'd settle your scores face-to-face with swords, or axes, or giants warhammers, or from a distance with magical fireballs or arrows. And I'm certain that the grass-fed beef you'd get in Middle-Earth would taste a hell of a lot better and be much better for you than what we eat today.
Bravery or courage is as essential as breathing if you are going to get anywhere in life with no assistance from anybody else. This is something that my homeboy Elliot Hulse talks about a lot. You should check out his youtube videos for some very insightful information about making your passion into a career, as well as his Strength Camp fitness videos.
At some point you've got to stop dipping your toes in the water and just dive in headfirst. -Tweet
The need for bravery can be applied to just about any situation you will face in the real world. To be brave is to take action to achieve your dreams and goals, not sit idly and watch life pass you by.
Bravery and your biggest passion go hand in hand.
Maybe your job or even your career significantly interferes with whatever your passion may be (for relativity's sake, let's use the example of competing/ training in strongman as your passion). Should you sacrifice some of your happiness or satisfaction with life to stay at your comfortable job? A few people may be accepting of this trade off if their passion doesn't truly drive them, or if they think they can find away to keep their safe job while maintaining their passion, like working all day and training in the middle of the night if need be. If strongman training really drives your every waking moment though, you might just have to be brave and quit your job to find something more in tune with your passion, or that at the very least allows you to fully live out your passion outside of work.
Sink or Swim
Comfort begets laziness.
If someone were to drop you in the middle of a very big lake on a comfortable raft, you'd be content to just float there and not really have to work very hard to get to shore, you'd eventually get there safely.
Now same situation, but this time you are dropped into the middle of the lake with no support. You either sink or swim. Knowing that you have only yourself to count on you will work damn hard to swim to shore, because you have no choice.
Chase Your Passion to the Bitter End
Being brave is about chasing your passion no matter what life throws in the way of your path. Going back to the example of strongman training, what do you do if you tear your bicep during training or a competition? If strongman is what you are truly passionate about you will give yourself enough time to recover, but then get back at it with no hesitations or second guessing yourself. Strongman is not a sport for second guessing your abilities. Hesitation will only end up injuring you. When it comes to training or competing after an injury, you must get back into that flow state and let the present moment totally engulf you. Complete focus will keep you safe and allow you to back off if you truly need to, but never before you have fully pushed your limits.
Derek Poundstone has several fractured vertebrae, among many other injuries that would fell almost any other human. Doctors have repeatedly told him that he would never compete in strongman again, yet against all that he is still brave enough to push on and continues to be a finalist in the World's Strongest Man competitions.
The only thing stopping you from living out your passion is you.
Be brave.
Fortissimus
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