We’ve all heard it before… “You can do anything you set your mind to!” At Mustang, we embrace the sentiment but acknowledge that sometimes, a little courage (and talent) is needed to accompany the passion that you might have toward becoming a singer, an astronaut… or an author! In fact, we’ve witnessed this firsthand recently, from our very own founder and president, Scott Harris. Already an established and published writer for numerous publications, Scott wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to pursue his passion — the Western genre.
And, while maybe we haven’t told him just yet how we feel about the fact that he’s in the process of completing his first Western trilogy — (shhh, we haven’t even told him we’re writing this blog inspired by him!) — here, at the office, we have all been pretty inspired to watch Scott pursue his passion with such excitement and vigor. He could have continued on course, doing all of the things he has already been recognized for, but he took a leap of faith. He found his “Coyote Courage” (pun intended!) and self-published his first of three stories about Brock Clemons. Now, Scott would never be one to consider pursuing his dreams as courageous, but the Mustang team thinks we can all admit that while many dream, not nearly as many pursue them. And if we’re being honest, the attitude is contagious, which got us to thinking… what are some courageous acts we’ve taken in our own lives lately?
So, in the spirit of courage, we rounded up the Mustang team and asked them to think of what they’ve done recently that Brock Clemons would be proud of.
Here’s what the Mustang team had to say:
Jessica – “I have a completely irrational fear of mosquito hawks (harmless crane flies), which basically look like flying daddy long leg spiders, if you aren’t familiar. They have absolutely no respect for boundaries or personal space! Recently, I had to take my potty-training daughter into the bathroom and left to give her some privacy, only to realize that there was a mosquito hawk lurking in the ceiling in the bathroom. Although I was terrified, I returned to the scene to retrieve my daughter when she called for me, and consider that an extreme act of courage!”
Mark – “After three years of freelancing for Mustang, I came on full time. I know this may be the opposite of what many would consider courageous — leaving a career of freelancing for a steady, full-time job and paycheck — but for myself and family, this was a huge transition. Having the freedom and flexibility of a freelance career was very convenient especially since I have two kids under the age of three and a wife who works nights. However, I knew it was important to push myself and grow in my skills and experience as a designer, so I can be more successful in the future and provide more for my family. It is a challenge to schedule and maintain a steady and healthy life, but I love it and fully believe I made the best decision for me and my family.”
Emma – “ I moved to a city where I didn’t know anyone that lives close by and decided to explore it on my own with a fresh start.”
Nerissa – “Last September, I completed the Dumbo Double Dare, a 19.3-mile race (over 
the course of two days, with a 10K on the first day and a half marathon on the next day) through Disneyland and the streets of Anaheim. The real act of courage wasn’t the race itself though, it was getting myself to sign up. Before then, the farthest I had ever run was six miles. While the 10K part didn’t worry me too much, I was really afraid I wouldn’t be able to actually get my body to run a full 13.1 miles for the half marathon. But I worked up every ounce of courage I had and signed up. I set a goal of completing the half marathon portion of the race in under two hours and committed to training. And when the race weekend came, I not only finished the half marathon in an hour, 54 minutes and 26 seconds, but also had an absolute blast doing it. I was so glad I had the courage to overcome my initial hesitation and self-doubt!”
Brooke – “Many years ago during my first time traveling outside of the U.S., my husband and I flew into Paris, France. We couldn’t believe we were finally there. All we wanted to see was the famous Eiffel Tower. Not knowing where we were going and not knowing the language in the foreign city, we ended up getting lost for five hours (in the rain) trying to find our hotel. Once we did, we dropped off our bags, put on dry clothes and bolted to the Eiffel Tower (with proper instructions on how to get there thanks to the bilingual hotel manager). When we finally got there, the clouds literally broke and the sun started shining. We persevered and climbed to the top. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone.”
Grant – “When I was 16, I taught skateboarding lessons at Skatelab in Simi Valley. One day a few kids from Casa Pacifica came in to watch all the skaters but didn’t have skateboards or equipment so they couldn’t do it themselves. I stepped out of my comfort zone and approached my bosses at Skatelab, and we arranged a group lesson for any of the kids from Casa Pacifica that wanted to learn how to skateboard to come in for a free lesson, and we provided them with all the equipment that they would need. Sometimes you just need to take the first step and ask.”
Kari – “Swimming with sharks!”
Chris – “My act of courage was buying a house and taking on a lifetime of projects. We moved in on the weekend of my twins’ second birthday. The immediate issues were removing the cat-pee soaked carpet, cleaning up after the rats that took us four months to expel from our kitchen, finding the septic vent that was cut in the wall and venting into the house, fixing the stove vent that allowed a six-foot snake to come into our house. The day we moved in, my mom cried she was so concerned for us. Looking back almost two years ago, I have no regrets. I love our home and I am excited about all we have done to make it our own. It has certainly been an adventure.”
Ally – “I have arachnophobia. I cringe at the thought of spiders and cry/panic when I see one. I was driving home from work one day, only to spot a spider crawling on the back ceiling of my car through my rearview mirror. For fear that it would crawl any closer to me, I pulled off at the nearest gas station hoping that someone could help me get the spider out of my car. I was panicking so I couldn’t get myself to ask someone to help me. I decided to continue driving home and would deal with it later, when suddenly I saw it crawling across my dashboard. Luckily, I had a magazine in the car and I was able to kill it. I finally had the act of courage to face my fear.”
As Mark Twain once said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” It’s okay to be uncertain. Face your fears. Step out of your comfort zone. Get inspired. Be courageous.