Earning those Uncle brownie points…

On the weekend, I went to watch my 5 year old Niece, Maddison Rose, perform at a dance show.

A little different from my usual weekends watching rugby.

The dance show had close to 100 dancers, of various abilities and ages, all performing different forms of dancing. Point, tap, street, ballet etc.

To be fair, it was a great production and I surprisingly enjoyed the experience.

It did also get me thinking.

Seeing these dancers have the courage to perform on stage in front of hundreds of people, it was motivating.

Putting yourself out there for the world to see, and confronting the inevitable nerves and fears that come with doing so.

It reminded me of a speech by Theo Roosevelt, which I recently discovered having attended the ECEO retreat in the USA this year.

‘The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood’.

I have taken a small section of the speech, and there is much more to it, but the above quote is powerful in itself.

It is so easy for us these days with the technology we have, to become keyboard warriors.

Sitting behind the safety of a screen, never actually stepping out into the real world and into the arena.

Seeing the dancers on stage was a reminder for me to continue to confront my demons, and that all credit goes to the man in the arena.

You have to take that step forward.

You have to embrace the discomfort.

You have to get your hands dirty.

That is how you grow, and ironically, that is how you live.

Hope this helps today's team.

Speak soon.

<3