Beautiful People,

Winston Churchill who was twice the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, an officer in the British Army, a historian, an artist, a writer (he won the Nobel Prize in Literature) and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States, once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

If you have been following my posts for the past few months, you probably know that I am a big fan of the Opposite of Comfortable. After all, I wrote an entire book about being troubled and feeling uneasy.

One of the greatest lessons I learned was that being uncomfortable is not a problem but an opportunity. Not just an opportunity to get out of an uncomfortable situation and to become more content, but an opportunity to learn and expand your horizon, and live life that keeps on giving.

Churchill’s insight refers to one of many interpretation of courage. It truly alludes to the connection between courage and being uncomfortable. We consider uncomfortable a problem that has to be solved. While standing up and speak is a good problem solving technique, it is even harder and requires a lot of courage to sit down and listen, because the things we might hear may not be the resolutions we had in mind.

Listening to ideas, opinions, answers and solutions, beliefs and philosophies that are different or even the opposite of our own requires a great courage.

People who set down and listened, went home and read more, expanded the conversation in other forums, and then changed their opinions — are probably the most courageous people in the world.

BE COURAGEOUS. Find ONE idea you think is right or ONE solution that you believe can fix a problem, and then listen to people who think differently. Go back home and research.

You may or may not change your mind, but guess what? If you were brave enough to go through this process, there are a very few things you will not be able to do.

XO,
Sharon