Train the Brave by Margie Warrell

Author:Margie Warrell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780730369448
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2018-12-28T14:30:00+00:00

Train the brave

Saying sorry and being sorry are not the same sorry. So take a moment to think about times you may have caused someone hurt or injury that you never apologised for. How might having the courage to say sorry and seeking to make amends lighten your load and expand your future?

Part III

Work passionately

How to risk the bravery your potential is counting on

CHAPTER 22

Work as though what you do matters; it does

A few years ago my friend Caren Merrick decided to stop lamenting the lack of businesswomen like herself in the state legislature and to run for the Virginia state senate. Over the 12 months prior to election day, Caren worked hard raising funds, knocking on doors (10 000 of them!) and learning about the concerns of those she hoped to represent. Week after week, she gave up weeknights and weekends with her family to earn the votes she needed to win. Midway through her campaign, her electoral district was redrawn and she found herself running in a new district that had voted for the opposing party for more than 30 years. While Caren knew the odds of winning were stacked against her, she decided the work she was doing was too important not to continue. So she pressed on, giving her all with even greater resolve.

Countless times Caren had to step outside her comfort zone, confront people who disagreed with her views and make herself vulnerable to the uglier side of politics, the name calling and smearing. On election day I offered to open our home to her supporters. As the vote count started to come in, our hopes began to grow thin. By early evening they were petering out altogether and I worried how Caren would handle the disappointment. I shouldn't have. The moment she walked out to the crowd assembled in my living room I just knew she'd be okay. Not because she hadn't wanted to win (she hadn't worked her tail off to lose!), but because her belief in her cause was more important than the outcome of her efforts. Winning or losing would not define her; only her commitment to giving her very best to a worthy endeavour. Caren began her concession speech with a quote by Teddy Roosevelt that encapsulated her mindset; one that I committed to memory that night and have been inspired by ever since:

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

OUR WORK ISN'T JUST A MEANS TO MAKE

A LIVING; OUR WORK IS A MEANS TO MAKE

OURSELVES.

One of the most dangerous risks people take is spending the best and most productive years of their lives doing something for which they hold no passion on the bet that they can buy themselves the freedom to do it later. It rarely works out that way. Sure, there are people in the world who truly have no choice about the work they do. But odds are you're not one of them.

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