The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.
Interpretation
The true achievement lies in having the courage to begin a challenge rather than just completing it.
This quote emphasizes the importance of courage in initiating action. Many people may find it daunting to start something new, but the real miracle is not only in the completion of a task but in the willingness to take that initial step, overcoming fear and doubt in the process.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage startup entrepreneurs.
If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.
My body is very different from most of the dancers I dance with. My hair is different than most I dance with. But I didn't let that stop me. Black girls rock and can be ballerinas.
As a career Army bomb technician, I have seen real heroism in the Ranger warfighters I stalked Afghanistan with each night and in the injured combatants whom I healed alongside in Walter Reed Army Medical Center after losing the two legs God gave me.
Speak, speak, speak, & remember that whenever anyone's liberty to speak is denied, your liberty is denied also, & your place is where the attack is.
Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can and surely will at times fail. Other vulnerabilities, like being embarrassed or risking love, can be terrifying, too. I think we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk.
In my life as a soldier and citizen, I have seen time and time again that inaction has dire consequences.
Someone said on social media that I was the son of Satan for being open about my sexuality. I told my mother, and she laughed and said, 'Well, what the hell does that make me?'
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