047 Stand Before You're Ready
Hey Calf, within a couple of hours of being born, you wobble to your feet and find your mother's milk.
Who else stands up before they feel ready?
Who else stands up before they feel ready?
In a cowshed at dawn, a calf is born. It lies in the straw, wet and shaking.
Within a couple of hours, it pushes up on wobbly legs, falls, tries again, and stands.
What really happens
A newborn calf usually stands and drinks its mother's milk within a few hours of birth.
That first milk is vital. So the calf does not wait until it feels steady. It stands on shaking legs.
How we know: Farm extension services, such as NC State Extension, advise that calves should stand and nurse within hours of birth.
The turn
We wait to feel confident before we try: before we speak up, apply, start.
The calf stands while it is still shaking. The steadiness comes after.
Three takeaways
- Confidence often comes after action, not before.
- Wobbling is part of standing.
- Some things cannot wait for you to feel ready.
Stand first. Steady comes later.
By doing just actions we come to be just; by doing the actions of self-mastery we come to be perfected in self-mastery; and by doing brave actions brave.