Personal Development and the Brave

The following article is from the new book, Getting Personal: A Guide to Personal Development by author and speaker, John Patrick Hickey.  To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.  

Most of us are familiar with the quote, “The coward dies a thousand deaths; a brave man dies but one.” This is one of those partial quotes that, once you hear the whole thing, you find a very different meaning. It comes from the classic novel by Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms. The full quote reads this way: “The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one.... [The man who first said that] was probably a coward.... He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave die perhaps two thousand deaths if he’s intelligent. He simply doesn’t mention them.”

There is a difference between being willing to do something dangerous and being brave. There are many who are willing to step out and do things that could or will cause them harm, but the thing they are doing is foolish or harmful to others as well. For instance, it takes some guts (I dislike using that word because I know it will be mistaken for courage, but guts are just the nerve to do something) to rob a bank; however, it does not take a brave man/woman to do it. The fact is, robbing a bank is foolish, harmful and not intelligent.

Courage, on the other hand, is the ability to not rob a bank and prevent or stop those who do. Courage is the ability to say no to something you know is wrong, no matter who thinks it is okay or who comes against you. Courage is doing what is right because it is right. No excuses. No compromise. No turning away and acting like you do not know. The brave takes a stand – they always take a stand.

Success-minded people are people who do not run away from a challenge. Life is full of challenges, and many of them represent risks that a lot of people run from. We do not know if the steps we are going to take will work, or if we will succeed at our efforts. It is important to use wisdom when taking a risk. You have to know what you are planning to do and how you will do it. However, there is no guarantee that it will work. That is what risk is all about. Risk means that failure is a possibility.

Here is where the success-minded person stands apart from the crowd. They are willing to risk failure because they know that, even if things do not go as planned, they will learn and grow and therefore

not fail. Without the courage to take risks, you will never achieve your dreams. It is as the French writer Andre Gide that said, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was impossible for too long, read Getting Personal: A Guide to Personal Development by John Patrick Hickey.  You can get a signed copy for yourself and get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/.  Now available on Kindle, Oops! Did I Really Post That? Online Etiquette in the Digital Age by John Patrick Hickey.

© 2016 John Patrick Hickey. No part of this may be reprinted or published without permission of the author.