By Guest Blogger on April 1, 2010

Every Hero Begins as a Fool

By Tama J. Kieves

In celebration of April Fool’s Day, I encourage you to be more foolish in your life. There is power in daring to be different.

Great advances have never come from the conventionally minded among us—those who worship data, never wear purple, and chastise the unknown. Change comes from us “madcaps” who obey the mandate to be alive—and chase the gleam of inspiration, the truth we know in our bones— more than known facts.

The world’s healers, industry leaders, artists and visionaries of tomorrow are likely the neglected fools of right now, scrambling to pay their rent while devoting themselves to bold ideas and inexhaustible generosity. Let’s face it, some half-cocked chuckleheads of the past gave us electricity, medicine, automobiles, a few trips to the pale white moon and back, not to mention hair dye and decaffeinated coffee. God bless them all. Can you imagine the Wright brothers assuming they could snub the laws of gravity and fly? Think about it. Many of us cower and shrink, thinking we’re extravagant, for believing we might just write a screenplay that sells.

Fools dare to be alive, even on a Monday. Fools dare to take off their shoes, turn off the computer, and walk outside into the sun. They know the power, healing, and strength of having fun. Fools dare to take off the thinking cap and try on a feelings fedora.

Fools dare to try new things and do them badly. Fools dare to rest when they are tired. Fools dare to sing off key and they dare to sing on key in a voice that melts all separation and brings sadness to its knees. Fools dare to wander down provocative paths in their lives, try scenic routes and detours, and stuff their bursting satchels with jewels. Fools dare to step into the river beyond the concrete structures of “how it’s always been done” and allow themselves to be carried onto new and holy ground.

Prudence and conservatism have not advanced our culture. It took the voices on the outskirts to make a noise that changed the world. It’s taken a handful of rabble rousers to vote for women’s rights, freedom from slavery, and to oppose war, hunger, and hatred. It takes fools to raise awareness and fools to raise the bar. It takes fools to stir the hearts of mankind into becoming the great lovers and leaders we are meant to be. Every time we watch the Academy Awards or the Olympics, I think of all the “foolish dreamers” involved who believed they had something in them that deserved commitment, development, and a jostling chance. Every hero begins a fool.

So dare the ridicule of the narrow-minded and dim-sighted. Dare to still believe. Dare to feel. Dare to trust your guiding light. Dare to ignore gravity and take flight. Dare to be a hero. Dare to be a fool.

Tama J. Kieves is the bestselling author of THIS TIME I DANCE! Creating the Work You Love(How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All!) She is also a national A Course in Miracles presenter and sought-after speaker and career coach who has helped thousands world-wide to discover and live their true life’s work. Visit her at www.ThisTimeIDance.com.

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