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Join Queen Latifah and Delivering Happiness's own Jenn Lim as they celebrate women being bold at the 18th annual Women's Leadership Conference hosted by Bay Path College. Registration is limited, but we'd love to see you there!
Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others. -Samuel Johnson
“Bravery” is often the product of ignorance. It is easy jump into the ocean if you don't know that sharks exist. Boldness, on the other hand, is the product of knowledge and conscious thought. Boldness is being fearless before a known enemy and moving forward through the obstacles your choice will present. It is the product of conviction, passion, and boundless hope.
People who make no mistakes lack boldness and the spirit of adventure. -Dale Turner
When you were young, the thought of being an "intrepid explorer" was probably a very appealing concept. It most certainly was for me. There is something romantic and exciting about being the explorer of the unknown, or boldly going where you, and no one else, wants you to go. This is such an effortless concept as a child, but as we grow, we realize that this kind of life is actually much more complicated than we imagined. Throughout childhood and into our adult lives, the concept that “failing is bad” is reinforced over and over, be it through a parent’s admonishments or a supervisor’s reprimand. To be fair, sometimes failing is bad, but only in instances where you do nothing with what you learned from the experience. If you make bold choices and fail, always look for opportunities to learn. Then brush yourself off and try again. You can be the intrepid explorer of your youth in a small way everyday.
The more we see ourselves as a vibrant, successful, inspiring person who boldly declares and manifests her vision, the more we become just that. -Kristi Bowman
Bold does not equal brash. Being bold is about making choices that may not be 100% proven, or safe, but are smart choices. Being bold means having identified your goal, taken stock of your own horizon and all the obstacles in your way, and acknowledged the very real possibility of failure; boldness is choosing the best strategic path forward from this foundation.
We need boldness. Here at Delivering Happiness, we have a core value (personal favorite) of “Create change in the world more than you ever thought possible.” Without the freedom being bold creates, we could never change the world, and without the freedom a bold choice provides, it becomes incredibly difficult to change your own world.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. -W.H. Murray
In the end, to feel fulfilled, to follow our convictions and values, we don't need to "boldly go where no man has gone before." We must simply "boldly go." The old adage of “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” applies in a parallel fashion to our own freedom to chase our dreams -- it is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all. Boldness begets freedom. Being bold frees your spirit to manifest the path you have decided is the best for you. Will it be easy? No. Will you fail? Possibly. But will giving that special something a shot be worth it? Absolutely.
