The Thing

One of the Truths I carry is that we are all courage bottle-necked.

Almost everyone has a Thing they’re holding back, they’re ignoring, they’re not doing. This Thing is always incredibly legible, it is not a secret. It’s written on your face, in your eyes, how you hold yourself.

You could ask your friend and they might know, or you could talk to them vulnerably and you would even say The Thing out loud.

The problem is that The Thing is almost always painful and difficult and has large implications for who you are or your life.

You will want to reason your way out of it, in fact being smart almost never helps with courage. It mostly makes you more cowardly because you can think of a smart reason why you should not do The Thing.

I think some people might have some modicum more courage than others, but in my experience it is not true that they have it unending reserves. They just had a flash of courage.

You know, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just, literally, 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.

It sounds silly but true. It’s just 20 seconds of bravery.