The Sunday Mail
Milton Kamwendo Hunt for Greatness —
There is ordinary courage in the midst of the noisy world and the clamour of voices. That is not your flavour of choice. That is not the complete picture of life. Everywhere there is movement, noise and dust, with many hopefuls trying to claim space.
At times, it is easy to confuse courage with commotion, character with clamour and calling with course. Adversity tests authenticity, fire proves fidelity and fear proves faith. When you face obstacles do not despair, there are necessary toll-gates to your greatness.
It is in stillness that power is revealed. Pressure propels potential. Stars shine brightest when it is darkest. Visionaries stand tallest when there is hopelessness and challenge.
Do not shout too loud about problems and difficulties because they are the fodder of entrepreneurship, innovation and great exploits. The bigger the challenge, the better the training. It is in troubled waters that opportunities are most abundant for the courageous.
You earn your stripes when you hold the wheel in the storm. It is when all the voices are muted that the still small voice finds expression. It is when you reach the end of your strength and you do not seem to have any more power to go on that true courage is seen.
True courage is not a noun, but a verb. Courage is to stand up and keep going when it seems too hard to continue, and many are quitting. Courage is to start when others have testimonies of failure. Courage is to continue in the face of danger. Until you have courage, you will never know what true faith is.
It is this kind of courage that makes winners and manifests greatness. Have courage to carry on when other people have concluded that you are a loser.
The challenge of doing a hill-start as your first kick. Courage is the key to greatness and you can summon it by staying engaged and being willing to dare.
It is perhaps this type of courage that Napoleon called the 2am courage.
This is courage that goes beyond the noise of courting publicity. There is ordinary courage, but to win you need the 2am courage.
The time
It is 2am and the house is dead quiet. The children are asleep and for once the endless stream of WhatsApp messages and phone calls has grown silent.
Rarely do you get a phone call at that time. For a winner, it is the best time to be awake. For losers, it is the most scary time to be awake.
At 2am you have no crowd with you. You stand in the world alone. You may sigh, twist and turn. In the market place it may be tough and challenging.
The temptation to give up and just run is high. You feel you have little strength and your tank is running low. At that point, prayer is an option.
You know that whoever can kneel to God can stand up to anything. True courage then is going on when you no longer have strength to go on. It is hoping when you have grown hopeless. It is believing when everything around you has been shaken. The 2am courage is standing up to the fight when you are hardest hit.
True courage is going on when you do not have the strength. It is at the 2am moment when you decide that giving up will not be for today. That life means more and can be more regardless of your current experiences. Do not give up, keep trying and challenge you limits.
You do not really desire something until your strength is tested and your will is tried.
What counts
It is not your ego that counts or what people are likely to say. It is not people’s opinions, whether good and bad, that finally count. It is you, the man in the ring, that counts.
The solitary battles that you have to outlive are not just for you. What you do matters for posterity and generations unborn. Be willing to dare. Stand up and fight when all that is left standing is your soul.
This is the 2am courage to be willing to walk the lonely road, fight when it matters most and do what needs to be done. Look up with hope and courage because the future is bright. Your ferocious focus should be on where you are going to, not the wilderness you are waddling through.
This moment is your best moment. This moment may not be kind to your emotions, but it is necessary for your future. This moment requires you to burn your flickering lamp with courage, while hoping for day break. Wait for the daybreak with courageous action and resolute faith.
You may fall, do not give up. It may be tough, but do not give up. Resources may be strained, but do not give up. You may feel abandoned and alone, just summon the 2am courage and stand.
The man
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th president of America, in 1910 once said: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is no effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.
“So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Another day
There will never be another day or another moment like this one. Do not waste this moment by losing focus. You will be throwing away life. Do not waste this moment by complaining, you will be losing traction.
Do not waste this moment by thinking that someone from somewhere will come and solve your challenge. Take courage, you are the man or woman. You are the one in the ring.
Go to the mirror and look at the person in the mirror – the man or woman in the mirror. Tell that person in the mirror not to give up or lose heart.
Tell that person that greatness is a journey that passes through many obstacles and challenges.
Tell that person in the mirror to smile because regardless of what is happening in this moment, God still has a better idea to accomplish through this special individual. That person in the mirror is you! Summon the 2am courage and commit to greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a cutting-edge international transformational and inspirational speaker, author and coach. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634
