We could all use a better memory, a larger dose of patience, the ability to survive with three hours of sleep and two more hands. Very few would see courage as a necessary attribute for helping us through a typical day. Courage is something required of firemen, police officers and soldiers. Give the rest of us an extra hour in every day.
Yet moral courage may be exactly what we need to improve our lives and our world.
General Douglas MacArthur probably described it best: “Moral courage, the courage of one’s convictions, the courage to see things through. The world is a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle – the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.”
How often do we ignore our conscience and instead take the path of least resistance? Is it really worth the time and effort to stand up for what we know is right when the status quo is good enough for everyone else? After all, we’re busy and we’re stressed. Who could blame us for doing what’s easier, what’s safer?
Listening to our conscience and daring to be courageous requires us to ignore the “roar of the crowd” and overcome our world’s most widespread affliction – being too busy.
Changing things that need changing and defending those who need defending demands a time commitment that most of our day planners just can’t accommodate.
But if we don’t do it, who will?
We all wake up with a fresh opportunity to make ourselves and our world better. But even the best intentions get lost among the six phone calls and 20 e-mails that need returned, the paperwork that must be completed, the business meeting you’re running 10 minutes late for, your kid’s soccer practice this evening.
The collision repair industry needs your voice and your hands, not just those of a few association leaders whose pictures frequently appear in the trade press. The same can be said for charitable organizations and community and civic groups.
We can all make a difference. But it takes more than just having an opinion. It takes the courage of our convictions and then following up with deeds.
Author Mignon McLaughlin wrote, “The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one minute to the next.”
May we all have the courage to make our minutes count – the courage to improve ourselves and change our world.
Denise Lloyd
Publisher
