Recently I was told by a friend that I was fearless.
I have to admit that it feels kind of good to be told that. I really look up to the person to told me this and it really lifted my spirits. That happened right before I made the decision to stop coaching and start college this fall.
Honestly, I really don’t see myself as fearless. Someone else described me as tenacious. I think that is a better description of my personality.
I loved playing high school basketball. I went to a small private school. If you even showed up for practice you were on the team. There were no ‘try outs’ like you see in public schools. We were the smallest team in our league during my junior and senior year. During my senior year we only had 7 players. Two of us were seniors and the rest were sophomore all the way down to seventh grade. It was a long two years and we won very few games. During my last year we had 9 wins and twenty-one losses. I was the biggest guy on the team at 5’10″ tall. I did all the jump balls for the year and was looked to as the offensive leader. As I look back on my life I see those two years as the place where I learned to be tenacious. I loved playing and just wanted to be on the floor, regardless of how heavy the cards were stacked against us. I played very well that year averaging 20 points and 20 rebounds per game. Not because I was good but because I was tenacious.
Believe me, I’m scared and I don’t feel particularly fearless right now. I do feel tenacious, though.
I have this overwhelming desire to provide well for my family. That’s really the driving force behind all that I do. Starting my contracting company scared me, but I did it and stuck with it for two years longer than it was viable. Starting the coaching business scared me but I stuck with it for a year trying to make it go. Starting the podcast REALLY scared me, but I put out 54 episodes and did have a good time, scared to death every time I hit the record button.
It is not the lack of fear that gives me momentum. It’s tenacity.
The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the lazy man will be put to forced labor. (Proverbs 12:24 NKJV)
Tenacity is the king of all human attributes. Tenacious people show up all the time whether they are winning or losing because they understand the long arc of a mission. Give me tenacious employees over superstars and ninjas any day of the week. They are the ones who will be with you when the going gets rough and the future seems bleak. Tanacity may be the one quality we are lacking in this country today.
I had one particular employee that was tenacious. It was particularly beneficial during inclimate weather. So many guys won’t brave the mud and snow when it comes to mid-construction projects. It makes life easier when you can count on someone.
Fear is such an interesting thing based entirely upon what we do with it. It can either sit quietly in the background or scream at us and either way still debilitate us to the point that we don’t move forward. Or it can motivate us to overcome and press on.
No one is truly fearless, but working through or past that fear is what tenacity, perseverance, and ultimately success is all about.
And of course it helps to have a Savior who encourages us not to fear, but to trust. It makes it a lot easier to do that when you are the type of balanced person who knows that God expects us to put our hand to the plow and not look back, who expects us to do our part and then tells us He’ll not only be with us but will also meet us at those places that are darkest and most fearful to guide us through.
Life for the tenacious is never boring, that is for sure. Sometimes it makes you long for a little time of boredom, but more often it means moments of hard work followed by moments of much deserved satisfaction.
That’s exactly what our pastor was teaching yesterday.
I’m about to re-brand the site and I plan on taking that angle with the new name.