Courage and victory
- At April 05, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
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There and back again?
Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry – four small hobbits – faced overwhelming obstacles and incredibly frightening adversaries in J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous trilogy The Lord of the Rings.
The hobbits, together with Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Gandolf, and their dwarf, elf, and human friends, often appeared to be no match for an awesome army of orcs and goblins; not to mention Gollum, the Nazgul, Saruman, and the Dark Lord of Mordor. Moreover, the struggle was constant; the battle was intense. Their friends were few.
And their cause often appeared to be hopeless. Defeat seemed inevitable. Each step on their journey could have been their last. And yet, they struggled together, and marched deep into the land of Mordor – right up to Mount Doom – in order to finally destroy the oppressive ring of power.
Courage led to victory.
During the Cold War, I believe it was C.S. Lewis who pointed out that although the U.S.S.R. could launch a nuclear attack against the West, they couldn’t make us cower in fear. And how we deal with our emotions during a major life challenge or crisis is sometimes what matters the most.
Of course, ongoing career struggles pale in comparison to Tolkien’s epic tale or a potentially catastrophic world conflict. But courage is required nonetheless.
Courage will help you send out another resume when you know full well that you may be rejected again. Courage will help you take action after putting together a carefully crafted career plan. Courage will help you acquire new skills that are necessary to achieve long-term career success. Courage will help you make the changes that are needed in your life in order to move ahead.
A courageous spirit needs to be nurtured together with a sense of caution. Adopting a reckless and haphazard approach to developing your career will tend to result in setbacks and failure that could have been avoided. So be sure to identify dangers and then avoid them. At the same time, carefully identify worthwhile goals and determine to work towards them – despite how you may feel.
Small people sometimes accomplish great things.
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