Fortune Favors the Bold

😜 I don't have a motto, but this one might suffice. "Fortune Favors the Bold".

Of course, the bold may very well fail spectacularly, but at the very least we can get a good story out of it. They can tell it at my funeral. Presuming they ever find my body. "Can you believe that he actually TRIED that?"

When you're bold, there are two outcomes -- spectacular failure or spectacular success. When you're timid, there is no chance of success. Unless your definition of success is surviving in quiet obscurity and keeping all of your body parts intact. Or at the very least, maintaining your dignity.

People are not naturally bold.

Just consider public speaking. When asked their greatest fear, 73% of us fear public speaking, but only 11% of us fear dying. That mean that 62% of us when given a choice of public speaking or dying will actually choose death.

“Mister Smith, there are two doors. The first door goes to the stage where you will speak for 30 seconds about absolutely anything you feel like in front of a group of strangers who will never see you again. The second door goes to the polar bear cage.” 62% of the time, the response will be “I hope the polar bear is hungry.”

But I am not afraid of public speaking. What's the worst that could happen? They could laugh at me. But I'm a funny guy -- you're reading this now, right? Maybe they could throw something at me, but I'm fast enough to dodge and always make sure that I have a human shield nearby.

Oh? They might not LIKE me? I was King of the Nerds growing up. Threatening me with not being liked by strangers is like threatening me mayonnaise on my hamburger.

Of course I'm not saying that I would go through the polar bear door just for a selfie. I'm bold, not stupid.

But I'm not afraid to write articles and submit them for publication. I'm not afraid to run for office. I'm not afraid to try new foods.

I’ve jumped off cliffs into unknown water, I’ve taken the wheel of just about any vehicle offered, I’ve explored dark cramped wet caves, and wandered into neighborhoods that do not welcome strangers. Nah, those weren’t scary.

Leaving home at 18 to make my fortune with my typewriter and $20, THAT was scary. Telling my best-friend-now-wife that I love her for the first time -- THAT was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But ad-libbing a speech in front of a political rally with 3000 people… ppfffftt, easy peasy.

Well, saying easy peasy isn’t actually easy. It doesn’t come natural to me. I heard it on a Geico commercial. But I’m bold enough to say it here, even if I’m not sure about the spelling.

Remember me saying I was King of the Nerds? Well, being a nerd back in the days before being a nerd was cool was a sure way to deny yourself group acceptance. But that king part? That was boldness once again. Even the nerds who are reasonably resistant to peer pressure from non-nerds still seek group identity. And anyone who is willing to stand up and say “follow me” quickly finds followers.

So I was asked to write about being a “fish out of water”. Of being in over my head or being the odd man out.

The problem is, I’ve always been the odd man out, either by circumstance or by choice. “Didn’t it feel awkward to go to school painted green? How was it to meet your in-laws for the first time? Were you intimidated by being in a room with all those super-smart scientists?”

Nope.

If you spend long enough in strange situations and being outside your comfort zone, you no longer find them strange and find a level of comfort. And if the strange feels normal and comfortable, it’s easy to be bold.

Or, at least, be a little bit bolder than the people who live in quiet obscurity until they avoid public speaking by voluntarily walking through the door with the hungry polar bear.

Did I make you laugh? Want more? Here are a few more of my humor columns on Vocal

Fortune Favors the Bold

Why Clickbait is Wonderful

Language Confusion

Waddling to Work

What, Me Volunteer?

I'm an Urban Legend

Life Under the Glide Path

I Miss My Hair

I'm a Kennedy Cousin

Super-Secret Diet Secrets

My Dogs Love me. Honest!

Yucky Foods!

Trapped in K-Mart

Geminis are Skeptics

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#Humor #PaulPence #PenceHumor #Boldness #Fear