Dare Mighty Things
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. — President Theodore Roosevelt
I first ran into this quote while watching a documentary on PBS called “Mars — Dead or Alive”. The scene was the entrance to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasedena, CA and on the wall was this sign in huge print
Entrance to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasedena, CA
I’m going to have to watch the documentary again because I couldn’t stop thinking about the sign. How inspiring to walk past that every day and be reminded that to achieve advances we must dare to do mighty things. Think of what the scientists of JPL have accomplished:
First Satellites
Satellites
Moon landings
Mariner craft (Planetary orbit and multi-planet mission
Voyager 1 &2 (Travel to Jupiter, Uranus & Neptune)
Galileo (asteroid flyby)
Mars Pathfinder (first planetary rover)
Deep Impact (landing on a comet)
And lost in all of those achievements Voyager is still going having moved into interstellar space in 2012! By the time Voyager runs out of fuel it will be 13.8 billion miles from our sun. It’s hard to imagine that number and at the same time it’s hard to think that we struggle with making our cars more fuel efficient.
Progress in the Daring
John Muir - Father of the National Parks
When we think of what moves us forward and inspires us to wonder it’s when we think of things that are daring. Imagine the gall of a tree deciding that it needs to reach ever upward to pursue the sunlight or an animal evolving to be able to hide in camouflage. We dared to leave the safety of caves and set out for places unknown accepting change and uncertainty as a new form of normal and through it discovered places, other people and in the process learned more of ourselves. John Muir walked 1,000 miles from Indiana to Florida in 1867 not having a specific route only wanting to go “the wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find” and that led to his move west to later advocate for the Yosemite area to become a National Park. I love the Muir’s words. Wild, leafy and least trodden isn’t easy but it’s a fun way to do anything and it stretches us.
Daring creates new normals
Before we sailed the ocean, traversed the continent or rocketed to the moon it was new, awe inspiring and daring. They were dreams just out of reach worth stretching for. These daring thought turned into wild plans, new math and technology and eventually, through failures and successes they led to knew normals. We live in a world that has seen people on heavenly bodies, robots on distant planets and yes, Voyager moving into interstellar space. Daring thoughts build new foundations of possibility on which we can stand to see higher and farther. We owe endless gratitude to those who have gone before and given their hearts, minds, talents, gifts and even their lives toward a greater purpose of daring.
What will we dare
What is it that we will dare to become? Dare we stand for equality for all? What of peace where it is lacking? Have we enough gumption to reverse our environmental impacts on a planet that dared to evolve into the diversity of life we have? At each daring inflection point there are those who question. Is it worth the risk? Will it matter? Will it make a difference? There is a comfort in the known from which we all benefit. There is safety in sameness. More and more I find the desire to do my small part to dare something mighty in how I life my life to turn a less trodden way into a more possible road for all. Maybe it’s time to consider a mighty thing worth daring.