“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”
Amelia Earhart
My friends have gotten me hooked on this History Channel show called Alone. It’s a reality show in which a bunch of survivalists are dropped off miles apart in some crazy place like Vancouver Island in Canada or, most recently, the Arctic. The last person standing wins $500K.
It’s kind of hilarious that we’ve all gotten so into Alone. I, for one, am not particularly outdoorsy. In fact, it would take some serious negotiating to get me to go tent camping, let alone living off the land for months on end. What is it about women that makes us gravitate to murder (link to SNL bit about murder shows) and survival shows? I have no idea, but I’d love to hear your theories.
Each episode starts with a quote that I almost always pause the show to write down. Last night, it was the above quote from Amelia Earhart. This one will definitely be going on Dessous’s Instagram page. I worry sometimes that people will think it’s preachy, or even pretentious, to post these inspiring quotes. Honestly, though, I post them for myself more than anyone else.
I need to be reminded of ordinary people who stuck it out to do extraordinary things. Because, I beg to differ with Amelia Earhart, but the sticking-it-out is the hardest part. I’ve made many, many decisions to act; carrying a project out to completion is where I falter. I can’t tell you how many hobbies I’ve started, or exercise plans I’ve committed to, that I’ve lacked the tenacity to follow through with.
Maybe it comes with getting older, but I feel myself getting more tenacious with every year that passes. The fact that I’ve managed to launch this company despite the myriad stumbling blocks that come with entrepreneurship is proof of that. Or, maybe I’ve just gotten better at outwitting my own fears and neuroses. The day I filed my LLC for Dessous, I forced myself to announce to the world on Facebook that I was starting the company. I knew it wouldn’t be as easy to quit when the going got hard when every person I knew would be a witness to my success or failure.
Anyway, I will never be the person who eats giant banana slugs to survive in the Canadian rainforest, but just maybe I’ve worked up enough tenacity to make Dessous Loungewear successful. Or, at the very least, I’ll live a little longer in the unlikely event of a zombie apocalypse. One of my friends is also a big fan of zombie movies, so I’ll definitely be sticking close to her!