“Are you a climb up on the roof kind of guy?”
As soon as he said those words I could feel my stomach tighten and an intense desire to flee.
Let me state emphatically for the record, “I AM NOT A ROOF GUY!!”
For those of you who haven’t figured out what a roof guy is, it is simply someone who is willing to climb up on a roof to do whatever task might need to be done on a roof.
I had gone over to the newly purchased home of some friend’s twin daughters. It is a fixer-upper and they have been spending a great deal of time there making the home livable for their daughters. I was there because I was going to borrow one of his tools for a simple project at our house.
He gave me a tour of the work they had done since the last time I was there and then gave me a quick review of the special drill he was loaning me. As I was about to depart he said those words I began the post with.
“Are you a climb up on the roof kind of guy?”
Fear immediately jumped in my face. I began to think of the years of razzing I had taken from my daughters because I wouldn’t put Christmas light up on our roof when they were young. That good natured taunting continues to this day.
Just as quickly as fear jumped in my face I recognized the opportunity to do something courageous. As I’ve been on this journey of courage for about ten years now I see those openings to display courage on a regular basis. Fear says go home. Courage says stay and help, go up on the roof.
As he explained the task he needed help with I was pondering my choices. My friend is a very gracious man and he would have understood if I had told him I’m not a climb up on the roof kid of guy. All I had to do was say no and he wouldn’t have given it another thought. Unfortunately, I would have.
He was willing to loan me one of his tools. While the fear guy sitting on my left shoulder was telling me to say “no” the little courage guy on my right shoulder was telling me to say “yes!” The job wouldn’t take that long. If I helped him he wouldn’t have to find someone else to help him and he could check that off the list and move on to the next project for his daughters.
I reminded myself of my own words from my presentation, “fear is selfish.” Yes, I could have said no but that would have been selfish. I would have been doing it for my own protection and putting him in the position of needing to find someone else. When he was done explaining what he needed someone to do, possibly me, I said to him, “You know, sometimes it sucks to be the courage guy!” He laughed. This time, courage won. I said I would help him.
I watched from ground level as he quickly went up the ladder and turned around and asked me to toss a couple of things up to him.
“Okay, you can come up now,” he said with great encouragement as he walked around on the roof as if he were on the ground like a walk in the park. Slothlike, I began to climb the ladder. Now, I don’t have a fear of ladders. It’s getting off the ladder at the top instead of the bottom that scares me. I reached the last rung and now had to swing my right leg up on the roof. Once off the ladder I thought it looked a lot farther down than it did from being on the ground looking up!
We moved to the peak of the roof and my feet straddled the peak. This gave me some sense of security. As I held on to one of the two pieces of piping he was putting together he put some heavy-duty tape on to hold the pipes together. He set the tape down on the roof. Suddenly, the round roll of tape began to roll down off the roof. In order to complete the project he had to go down and get the tape. My opportunity to be courageous was now extended! While he went down I had to hold these pipes while trying to maintain my balance and not rolling off the roof myself just as the tape had done.
In total, I was up on the roof for ten to twelve minutes. As my first foot hit solid ground I felt a great sense of relief. I also felt a great sense of accomplishment. I had faced a really big fear. Could I have fallen off the roof? Of course I could have. In reality, it wasn’t likely though. I also felt a sense of satisfaction because I had helped a friend.
As I drove home I thought about that sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and weighed it against what I would have felt had I been driving away having said no to his request for help.
Courage and fear both have a cost. Which price are you willing to pay?
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS Day!
Looking for a speaker for an upcoming live or virtual event? I’d love to be that guy. You can reach me at dave@cultivatecourage.com or 952-200-7499.
You can now buy the book “Cultivate Courage” on Amazon! https://amzn.to/2N2PBVJ
