“You have enemies? Good . . .
“That means you’ve stood up for something, some time in your life.” Winston Churchill.So many famous people give us so many quotable quotes about bravery and integrity. Sometimes I read them and think – I’m not a famous person, I don’t have any occasion to make a stand or be publicly brave. But I realize that is missing the point. There are daily opportunities to express myself and tackle thorny situations directly, but tactfully. The more I think about it the more I see the opportunity to speak my opinion, the truth as I see it, occurs almost every time I open my mouth. I have a tendency to say nothing until annoyance or anger builds up to a point of no return and then I blurt it all out. I’m continually working on calmly, gently and lovingly –sticking to my guns!But expressing anger is only one aspect of standing for something. I realize the call for honesty and integrity in speech is constant. I make constant choices to either say something nice and friendly or be cold and rude. It is not just about carefully choosing words when speaking to large audiences, or even when networking with clients, it is about choosing not to gossip, or bad-mouth; choosing to support and uplift someone rather than criticise them; choosing to view a situation giving the people involved the benefit of the doubt rather than assuming the worst.In Teddy Roosevelt’s famous speech, “Citizenship in a Republic,” he talks about the front man out there making the mistakes, trying again and again and perhaps “failing while daring greatly.” 
The characters in my books get themselves out there – standing up to bullies, striving to achieve and accomplish excellence at work in spite of having a bad boss, choosing to be themselves in spite of all their imperfections, following their calling even though it is a difficult path. My heroines are the fighters in the rings, getting bloodied and scarred. They fight the same battles in the fantasy world that we fight here.I’m going back out into the ring and ‘daring greatly’.
