Quote-A-Day: Day 20

Never run from a #challenge. Rather, run towards it. Every challenge met is a step towards #success. #QuoteADay #Day20 #edchat #edu #winning

It is human nature to be scared or frightened of challenge.  It's also human nature to want to embrace the familiar, and run from what would be a change.  However, the risk we avoid by side-stepping challenge is one less success we might experience, and one less opportunity to learn.

One of the difficult parts of approaching challenges head-on is that we never know what to expect.  Sometimes, regardless of the amount of data we collect or investigations we conduct, there is simply some uncertainty that can't be avoided.  Still, we owe it to ourselves to embrace the unknown, as only through experiencing it can be turn it into the known, and from there, build our capacity to know and share more.

I can't say I've never run from a challenge.  I've certainly run from a few.  But, as I've matured both personally and professionally, I've run from less and less.  Why?  Simply because I find it harder to deal with wondering what would have happened if I would have taken a challenge on, then dealing with the potential failure that a challenge brings.  That failure is no longer something to be feared.

For me, challenge has become a necessary part of the work I do.  When there is no more challenge or when I no longer welcome it, then that is something to be feared.