Courage

“Courage does not always roar.

Sometimes courage is the quiet voice

at the end of the day saying

‘I will try again tomorrow.’”

(Mary Anne Radmacher)

In her book Mindset, author Carol S. Dweck tells this story about Michael Jordan, THE MICHAEL JORDAN, when he played for the University of North Carolina.

“Once, after his team lost the last game of the season, Jordan went and practiced his shots for hours. He was preparing for the next year. Even at the height of his success and fame – after he made himself into an athletic genius – his dogged practice remained legendary. Former Bulls assistant coach John Bach called him a ‘genius who constantly wants to upgrade his genius.’”

I think Michael was saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” After every defeat, after every disappointing experience, he always had a hope in his heart that “tomorrow will be a new beginning. Tomorrow, I’ll be better.”

“The proof is in the puddin’, as we used to say in Tennessee. Michael Jordan had the courage to face his fears and disappointments, get back out on the court and work hard to develop his now legendary talent. But there was a time when he was a nobody.


Nobody paid attention.

          Nobody gave a care

                    And nobody thought much about him
                              nor did they lay accolades at his feet.

Sometimes the courage to try and try again makes all the difference in the world.

Norman Cousins, former editor of the Saturday Review, was diagnosed with an incurable ailment and his destiny was a death sentence. He said, “No thanks. I’ll try again tomorrow”, and he literally cured himself by using laughter and his doctor's suggestions. Read this amazing story in his book called The Healing Heart. (To order, click on this link -    Up-Words LifeLine Book Store This book is located on the opening page, lower right corner)

In the early days of the United States space exploration, NASA faced setback after setback. But with wisdom they continued to say “We will try again tomorrow.” And now look at what has been accomplished. Landing on the moon, exploration of far distant solar systems and planets, and just this week I read that we may soon be able to purchase a ticket for inter-planetary space tourist travel.

I have some friends who are music composers. They work at their craft every day of their lives. Some days they write wonderful melodies and lyrics and other days, well, on other days they throw their work into the trash can, yet they quietly say “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

I hope you are finding the courage to try and try again after whatever setbacks you may face. I posted a blog on July 8, 2010 called The Bull’s Eye. The premise is this … “The arrow that hits the bull’s eye is the result of one-hundred misses.”

As they sing in Beauty and the Beast, “Screw your courage to the sticking place.”

Remember what Scarlet O’Hara said?