Since the beginning of time, there have been amazing inventions and advancements in
technology. While some of these were started out of necessity, they all started with at least these
two components: an idea and the courage to implement that idea. Some of us have some big
ideas, but we may be nervous to put that idea out into the world. We may be afraid of failure or
that we will be laughed at or criticized. It can be a very scary undertaking to put your stuff out
into the world. I know this for a fact because for years I kept my poetry writing under wraps and
only disclosed to family and close friends. It wasn’t until the COVID lockdown in 2020, when I
started cleaning out a drawer and found my binder of poems, that I decided to go forth and
publish. Now that I have three books behind me, and this being my fourth, I am still very
nervous and scared. But I do it anyway, because if just one line from one poem helps just one
person, then all the fear will be worth it. None of us will live forever. I have no children, so my
books and poetry will be the legacy that I leave behind. I didn’t have to publish. I could have
lived the rest of my life just tucking my secret away. But now that I am out into the world, it is so
satisfying to be told that something I wrote impacted someone in some way. 

It is hard to get started though. It’s very easy to put it off until tomorrow, which becomes
next week, and then next month, and next year, and so on. Sometimes the hardest thing is to get
going. It’s the start that stops most people. This could be because it is overwhelming; where to
begin, how do I start, do I have the financial means to make this happen? These are all questions
that run through our minds as we run through the pros and cons of moving forward with our idea or vision.
Recently I have toyed with starting a YouTube channel, so I started watching other
YouTube videos on how to get started. Seeing the list of equipment needed, not to mention the
fear of putting myself on video for the whole world to see, was enough to make me say “not today.”
So more often than not, what stops people is that they get into their own head. The self-
doubt creeps in, or that fear of failure, or like with that YouTube endeavor, just getting started is
an overwhelming undertaking, so you put it off until tomorrow, and then it just never happens.

But like all great inventions in our world, someone had the courage to move forward with
their idea, and we are better because of it. Well, for the most part. There have been some not-so-
great ideas. Pet Rock, I’m talking to you! But even with the Pet Rock, the creator Gary Ross
Dahl had the courage to move forward with his idea, and it actually took off. Due to ingenious
marketing, Pet Rock earned profits of more than $1 million in half a year! This little creation
definitely changed Gary Ross Dahl’s life forever. Imagine if Benjamin Franklin or Alexander
Graham Bell had hid in their rooms due to fear of criticism or failure? Imagine our lives if Steve
Jobs had decided that he’d wait another twenty years before moving forward with his ideas?
Unfortunately, due to Jobs’s early death, his ideas would not have materialized. And it doesn’t
have to be a physical product to be shared. Musicians, artists, even podcasters have to gather up
their courage to put their material out into the world. Imagine if Ernest Hemingway had decided
not to publish The Old Man and the Sea? What if Michelangelo was too afraid of criticism to
complete the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1512? We would never know if
these works of art were missing from our lives, but because they exist, we are better for them.

So, if you have an idea, I hope you find the courage to move forward with it. It might fail,
and you might have to regroup and try it again or in a different way. It might not sell, or no one
may appear to be interested, and that’s okay too. Things can change overnight. You might not
change the world or your life at all. But what if you do?

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes

You can’t stare at a rosebud
And wish for it to bloom.
You cannot change your life
Sitting in a darkened room.

Change takes time, but it can blossom
With a small but simple stride.
Change can start with a tiny ripple
That grows into a tide.

If you think you can’t commit to something
You’ve decided your own fate.
Life will keep marching on
While you sit back and wait.

Nothing changes if nothing changes
And that change starts with you.
Believe in your own talents
And all the things that you can do.

You can change your own life
Or even start a revolution.
But sitting alone with doubts and fears
Won’t give rise to the solution.

You can make today Day One
Or you can make it last one day.
It can be the change of a lifetime,
Or you can let it slip away.

Embrace change, even though it’s scary
And things may feel uncertain.
Let the world see your skills;
Don’t hide them behind a curtain.

It is okay to be nervous.
It’s normal to be afraid.
You can watch your dream take flight,
Or sit back and watch it fade.

You may feel like backing down
Once the fear and tension mounts.
It’s okay to be afraid;
It’s what you do with fear that counts.

The worst thing that can happen
Is that you may not reach your goal.
But if you tried, you have not failed;
Some things are out of our control.

So try again, alter your plan,
And plant your goal like a seed.
Don’t let your fears consume your mind
Or spread through you like a weed.

Be brave, be bold, and go forth with purpose
To make those dreams come true.
Nothing changes if nothing changes,
And that change starts with you.