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Humble Pie...

Writer's picture: Troy CarrollTroy Carroll


"Arrogance is the conjoined twin of ignorance" - Andy Hargreaves.... If you have been following me for any sort of time then you know I was born and raised in Baltimore Maryland or B More as we often called it. A coastal city, it is often plagued by humid summers and really cold and snowy for no reason winters. One particular year, when there were two weeks straight of blizzards (which by the way is a dream of every kid that lives in the east coast and loves the snow) I put on my numerous layers of clothes, mixed matched socks, a glove, a mitten, a scarf and a hat. Dapper... I stepped out onto the porch and looked out at the snow that was piled high enough to reach the top bottom of my porch. To offer some perspective, my porch has seven steps before you reach the ground. Anyway....The snow was around five feet deep which to a kid translates to 50 feet and all my life (a full 11 years at the time) I had waited for a day like this to come.

A day where the snow was high enough, full enough for a kid, especially an inner-city kid's dream to come true... You might be wondering where this is going. I promise to bring it all in. I stood at the edge of the porch, above the first step looking down. I took a deep breath and leapt. It wasn't a great distance, I was no long jumper, but for me it felt like I was flying, at least until I hit the soft powder or should I say through the soft powder that gave way to a very solid and apparently hidden ground. I don't know if you have ever had the wind knocked out of you, but I promise you it isn't pleasant at all. So, there I lay... winded, and confused. It didn't take me long to figure out my mistake. I assumed the snow would be deep enough AND firm enough to support the weight of my falling body. I was half right...... and half wrong. I didn't assess that situation right. Nor the next... Yes, that's right... I got up, made my way to the next drop off to the street and leapt again... Same results...different space. There are a few morals to this story, but the most prominent one is that I was determined NOT to make the same mistake again, especially if I didn't need to. It wasn't as if I was being chased or something. I refused to allow my assumptions and arrogance to put me in a position of pain again. Well.... at least for the time being. I was young so yeah.... there were plenty of other mistakes to be made and lessons learned. Anyway... back to the point and story... I played in the snow the rest of the day. So much so, I was soaking wet and freezing by time I went back in. The weather forecasted more snow. I knew that meant that school would be out and more fun was coming my way. And this time, I would still leap, but I would look first. Why does this matter? I often tell my clients not live in fear. I do however teach caution depending on the situation. But to live we must still take the leap. What I want to ensure is that we don't leap so often without thinking or worse yet so full of over confidence that we forget to read the signs that might be telling to use a bit of discernment or caution. It is in those moments that we should be checking our egos and potential impulsiveness to ensure that we are in alignment with both our inner selves and our journey. That my Motiv8tional Warriors is the moral of my story. Learn from the lessons that life gives you. Yes, be confident once you have done the work, but even then, use both discernment and introspection to orient your reference point of the "Who in You". Assuming versus assessing will often leave you in a place of unnecessary failure and or disruption of your journey. Why do that when you don't have to? Someone once said to me that "Ego" translates to "Edging God Out" or to allow it to fit the many "Edging Greatness Out". When you allow the worse part of you to become the main part of you..... Don't push out the "Who in You" that was destined and designed to be a plus versus a minus. Speaker... Author... Warrior... Coach..

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