Courage is for the Hard Times

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Randy Black: Coach Clayton used to say, you don’t need courage when everything’s easy.

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Randy Black: You only need it when life gets tough.

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Randy Black: It’s in those moments when life pushes back against you.

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Randy Black: That we see what kind of courage we really have.

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Elizabeth Clayton: As his daughter, I saw that courage up close, both on the court and in everyday life

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Elizabeth Clayton: Today, we’re talking about how courage shows up in the big moments and the small ones.

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Randy Black: This is courage is for the hard times today on shooting it straight.

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Coach Jim Clayton: You know, believe in yourself.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Or nobody else will.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Set the bar high, achieve greatness, and stay motivated through the process.

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Coach Jim Clayton: You know what that spells?

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Coach Jim Clayton: BAM, son!

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Randy Black: This is Shooting It Straight, the podcast where life lessons don’t come sugar-coated and excuses get checked at the door.

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Randy Black: Randy Black, podcast guy, educator, and resident technique.

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Randy Black: And apparently, still the only one here who doesn’t yell bam, son, in public.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I’m Elizabeth Clayton, stepping into some big shoes, ready to ask the tough questions, call it like it is, and

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Elizabeth Clayton: Maybe even challenge Randy a little along the way.

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Randy Black: Each week, we’re taking what life teaches us.

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Randy Black: The discipline, the drive, the lessons you can’t just read in a book, and translating it into real-world success.

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Elizabeth Clayton: That’s right.

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Elizabeth Clayton: This is about showing up.

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Elizabeth Clayton: when life gets messy, pushing through when the pressure’s on, and figuring out how to get better, no matter what.

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Randy Black: And if you’re looking for fluff, this probably isn’t your show.

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Elizabeth Clayton: We’re here to help you believe bigger, achieve louder, and motivate stronger.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So buckle up and whatever

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Elizabeth Clayton: Whatever you do, keep shooting it straight.

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Randy Black: Bam son.

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Randy Black: Life doesn’t come with a playbook.

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Randy Black: And courage is rarely needed when everything’s going smoothly in life.

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Randy Black: It’s in the moments when life pushes back

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Randy Black: When the plans fall apart, when the fear sets in, or challenges feel bigger than we are, that we discover what courage really means.

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Randy Black: I’ve faced moments like that in my life where it would be easier to give up than to keep going.

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Randy Black: But courage, it isn’t about not feeling fear.

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Randy Black: It’s about choosing to step forward anyway, even when the outcome is uncertain.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I’ve had the privilege of seeing courage up close through my dad, Coach Clayton.

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Elizabeth Clayton: watching him navigate life’s challenges, both the big public moments and the quiet everyday decisions.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And that taught me that courage isn’t always dramatic or visible.

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Elizabeth Clayton: It’s in the choices we make when no one else is watching, in staying true to our values, and in stepping forward even when it’s hard.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Seeing him live that out has shaped the way I think about courage in my own life.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And it’s a perspective I want to share with our listeners today.

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Randy Black: So today.

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Randy Black: We’re going to explore courage in three ways.

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Randy Black: First, we’re going to look at how it emerges when life gets tough.

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Randy Black: The moments that test us and reveal our true strength.

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Randy Black: Second, what we can learn from experiences that challenges through reflection and the decisions we make in the face of that adversity

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Randy Black: And then third, how to carry courage into our daily lives, into the small but meaningful choices that shape our character

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Randy Black: and define who it is that we become.

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Randy Black: By the end of this episode, we hope that you’ll see that courage isn’t just for big dramatic moments.

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Randy Black: It’s something we practice every single day.

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Randy Black: And it’s what helps us keep moving forward even when life is hard.

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Randy Black: So let’s start at the beginning.

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Randy Black: Let’s start with the hard moments.

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Randy Black: Those times when life pushes back.

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Randy Black: When fear shows up.

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Randy Black: That’s when courage really gets tested.

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Randy Black: How do we face the tough stuff

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Randy Black: And what does that look like in real life?

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Randy Black: Well, let’s break that down.

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Randy Black: We’ve got five points here that walk our way through that.

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Randy Black: The first is that courage is revealed in difficult situations.

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Randy Black: A lot of times we find that courage manifests itself in small, quiet ways that go unnoticed.

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Randy Black: Because we all have those difficult situations, we just don’t always realize how difficult they were at the time.

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Randy Black: Let’s think about it.

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Randy Black: You’re having a conversation with a friend or a family member.

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Randy Black: And we’ve all done that, right, Liz?

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Randy Black: Mm-hmm.

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Randy Black: You’re having that conversation with them.

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Randy Black: And you have to tell them something.

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Randy Black: And you know it’s not going to go well.

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Randy Black: Does that take courage?

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Elizabeth Clayton: Mm-hmm.

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Randy Black: Very much so.

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Randy Black: You have a relationship and we I’m married on my second marriage.

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Randy Black: You you have Mike.

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Randy Black: So we have we have these situations, these relationships.

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Randy Black: And in those relationships, we sometimes have to set boundaries.

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Randy Black: Those aren’t always the easiest things to do.

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Randy Black: Nope.

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Randy Black: We oftentimes see things happen in the world around us.

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Randy Black: And we have to decide, are we going to stand up and do the right thing?

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Randy Black: Or are we going to just let it go?

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Randy Black: It takes courage.

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Randy Black: And one that a lot of people don’t think about in having courage is in your ability to just keep your commitments.

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Randy Black: Sometimes that takes courage.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Got that right.

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Randy Black: When you when you get in these situations, do you always know that you’re having to pull from that inner strength, that courage you have?

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Randy Black: No.

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Randy Black: And it’s something we don’t always realize.

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Randy Black: Like think about it.

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Randy Black: Liz, if there’s there ever been a moment

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Randy Black: When in your life something happened and you’ve looked back on it and now you think, man, that took a lot of courage.

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Randy Black: And I didn’t even realize it at the time

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Elizabeth Clayton: Oh yeah.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um actually I was trying to think of something that was uh monumental in my life that took a lot of courage when we started talking about, you know

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Elizabeth Clayton: As we’re sitting here, you know, talking about everything and uh one of the things that came into my mind was uh of course this was a long time ago, but um when in between my junior and senior year of high school

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um of course I was that summer I was in the gym with my dad, you know, every day pretty much.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Uh he had a different camp

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Elizabeth Clayton: Every week, every weekend, and um that particular time frame, I was thinking about transferring schools.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Because I just I had the chance to play with a lot of different girls from different schools, you know, at Sports City and they were like, why don’t you come play at our school?

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Elizabeth Clayton: Back in the day of before you you weren’t supposed to recruit, but you you did um in public schools.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So anyway, I remember um

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Elizabeth Clayton: I remember waiting the entire summer.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I remember about two weeks before school started, my dad goes, What are you gonna do?

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Elizabeth Clayton: I said, I’m going.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m doing it.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m ready to go.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And of course I could drive at that time.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I was actually I turned um

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Elizabeth Clayton: What was that?

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Elizabeth Clayton: Uh that particular summer, I guess I was I was a year like younger than everybody in my class.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So at that point I was able to drive, and that was my dad main my dad’s main concern.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I could I had to drive myself wherever I went

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Elizabeth Clayton: So anyway, um my dad goes, he called, he he set it all up.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Well, he calls me one day and he goes, they denied your transfer.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I said, what?

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I g you know, the everybody knew my dad, everybody knew me, and they’re like, why what what is she wanting to transfer from Huntington High to Hamlin in Lincoln County?

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Elizabeth Clayton: What is the deal with that?

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Elizabeth Clayton: Big difference and uh, you know, academically too, and of course, you know, everybody probably knew why, but you know, so anyway, that particular day, I think it was on a Tuesday

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um my dad, I was like, What are you gonna do about it?

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Elizabeth Clayton: And my dad goes, There’s a board meeting tonight.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Well, he had Sports City that evening

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um Benny Thompson was the person, I guess, that was over that at the time, if you knew that name back then.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I think that was his name.

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Randy Black: Thomas.

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Randy Black: Benny Thomas.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Thomas Thomas, yep.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So anyway, I said, well

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Elizabeth Clayton: I guess I’m gonna have to go to that board meeting by myself and I’m gonna have to corner him somewhere and tell him like you better you know I I h you know I’m not gonna be here on the first day of school, so you better accept my transfer

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Elizabeth Clayton: Bud.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And so I remember I went down there, had to go through the whole meeting and listen to all this stuff.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And then at the end I went up to him like, hey, I’m so-and-so, and he knew who I was and I told him

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Elizabeth Clayton: My little spe my little spiel of what I was doing and the next day they called and said, You can go.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um, like I said, going from

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Elizabeth Clayton: you know, something I’ve known my entire life.

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Elizabeth Clayton: All the kids I went to school with, my I drove to school with my dad every day, you know, and basically going to a foreign place.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I knew some people, but

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, um, it was a big deal.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um, so anyway, that really took a lot of courage.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And looking back, I’m really glad that I did that.

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Elizabeth Clayton: because I learned a lot.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I met a whole group of of new people and I’m still friends with those people to this day.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And we had our twenty year reunion, what like two years ago.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um we were a small class, but I remember getting together with some of those like seven, eight, nine people, and it was like, you know, tw you know, no time had passed.

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Elizabeth Clayton: It was fantastic.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So um I’m really thankful that I did that, but it I was scared at the time.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I pushed through that.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So anyway

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Randy Black: I mean, I I I, you know, my own life, the most courageous thing I think I ever did was when I finally

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Randy Black: Packed my things and left from my first marriage.

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Randy Black: Um I was scared.

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Randy Black: The fear hit me.

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Randy Black: I felt like I’d failed.

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Randy Black: And I packed my stuff and I left and I went to my parents’ house.

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Randy Black: Um It was tough.

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Randy Black: It was hard because I was leaving behind, you know, almost 16 years.

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Randy Black: of living with this person and being married to them and leaving behind my son to live with his mother.

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Randy Black: Um

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Randy Black: You know, it was it was one of the toughest moments of my life.

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Randy Black: And it it I look back at it and I know that it was ultimately the best thing I could do because the situation had gotten

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Randy Black: So rough, and I use that as just a clarifier without going into details, it was so rough that it was it was a situation that like the change had to occur.

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Randy Black: And we both knew that and we finally had hit the point where we had to do it.

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Randy Black: Um the pressure of that, um, it was it was finally at its breaking point and it finally took me just saying

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Randy Black: I give in, I’m done.

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Randy Black: And I left.

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Randy Black: And it was it was, like I said, one of the toughest things I ever did.

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Randy Black: And I look back at it and realized that that fear of what was happening, of the change that was occurring.

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Randy Black: That it took so much courage on my part to to own up to the situation and say, you know what?

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Randy Black: I’m partially at fault here too, and I need to walk away.

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Randy Black: And I did.

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Randy Black: So, you know, courage, courage reveals itself to us in those difficult situations when we hit them.

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Randy Black: You know, there’s something about difficulty.

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Randy Black: When it hits us in life, and it forces us to show up more honestly than we might normally

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Randy Black: And my example is a is perfect of that because I had to own up to my own shortcomings in the situation and own it to be able to move on.

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Randy Black: It forced me to to examine myself and to reveal the character that I wanted to have, not the character I was displaying.

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Randy Black: So it changed things there for me.

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Randy Black: But

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Randy Black: Courage also, um, in ways, it it’s it’s the hardships we face that bring that out that exposes our strengths.

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Randy Black: Not our weaknesses.

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Randy Black: And a lot of people look at that and they think that that having courage is because you’re trying to overcome the weakness.

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Randy Black: But it’s not

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Randy Black: It’s that you’re stepping forward and using the strengths you have to handle that situation and make it better for you.

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Randy Black: You know, I just talked about it.

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Randy Black: I thought I was a failure and what I’d done.

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Randy Black: My marriage had failed.

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Randy Black: But the struggle

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Randy Black: Wasn’t a failure.

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Randy Black: It was an opportunity to see things differently, to see what uh what I was capable of, what could I what could I overcome on my own

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Randy Black: You know, div difficulty, those hardships, they they help us to grow in everything we do

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Randy Black: So when we excuse me, when we when we look at this, you know, we have to know that we have not failed

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Randy Black: We have just hit a roadblock and we have to push forward over it.

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Randy Black: It goes back to everything we’ve talked about with resilience.

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Randy Black: The hard times we face highlight the inner resources we have.

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Randy Black: And they pull out our ability to be resilient and to use that courage to keep pushing forward, to keep moving on.

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Randy Black: And

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Randy Black: There’s nobody in this world that could tell you that and use that as an example to teach that lesson than your dad, because that was everything he did.

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Randy Black: He always pushed forward.

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Randy Black: If he hit a roadblock,

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Randy Black: He kept pushing forward.

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Randy Black: You know, he told me the story of what happened when he first opened Sports CDU and all his financial backers pulled out

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Randy Black: Because they were declaring bankruptcy.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I remember that.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah, even as a little kid.

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Randy Black: He didn’t know what to do.

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Randy Black: He’s like, like you can file with us or you can take it over.

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Randy Black: And he’s like, well, I really don’t want to give it up.

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Randy Black: And he found a way to take it over.

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Randy Black: He went and got a loan and he took care of it and and took over and he ran it for 30 plus years.

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Randy Black: You know, he found the courage to push forward and make it work.

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Randy Black: We all have that in our own lives.

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Randy Black: We all face those hardships.

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Randy Black: We face them and we have the fear and we think that we’re we’re being weak because we have that fear.

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Randy Black: But that fear is really there to make us stronger.

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Randy Black: So

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Randy Black: Why is it, Liz, do you think why do you think that hardship we face teaches us

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Randy Black: Like what is it those hardships teach us that comfort in our lives can’t?

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Randy Black: You think there’s something there?

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Elizabeth Clayton: Well

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Elizabeth Clayton: You learn a lot when you’re on your own in life.

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Elizabeth Clayton: That’s for sure.

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, um something that is well growing up, it’s interesting.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um

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Elizabeth Clayton: you know, watching my dad and everything that he did, uh, you know, he really didn’t he never babied me.

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Elizabeth Clayton: He he always told me to figure stuff out.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I understand now why he did that because later in life when I left Huntington and came to Louisville, you know, I dun I didn’t have a many people to rely on.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I went through different things where uh you know, I was in a relationship, live with somebody, we ended it and then

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Elizabeth Clayton: you know, separated and had to figure it all out again on my own.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um kind of like what you were talking about, you know, going through a divorce.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um, you know, there’s moments in life that uh, you know

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Elizabeth Clayton: you don’t realize all the things like that our parents instilled in us, especially like my dad.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um you know, going back to those those hard times and the times that I just wanted to pack up and just

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Coach Jim Clayton: run home.

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, I didn’t do it.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I figured out a way to push through and face my fear and I always knew that good things were gonna come my way and they normally did

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um, but uh, you know, in talking to my dad during those times, you know, he would always instill in me, um, you know, you gotta keep going.

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, you’re you’re you you’ve you’re uh you might feel like this is a setback, but there’s a reason why this happened.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And um

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, uh, good things are gonna come your way, you gotta stay positive.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um, you know, life isn’t easy

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Randy Black: Um Oh it’s not.

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Elizabeth Clayton: It’s not easy.

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Elizabeth Clayton: There’s twists and turns and curve bowls that you know every day.

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Elizabeth Clayton: But um

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, if we just stay our course and uh, you know, nothing’s perfect.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Nothing is perfect.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And if you think, you know, especially in the world we live in today

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Elizabeth Clayton: you know, on social media, people try to portray their lives as these perfect little things and nobody has a perfect life.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I mean, nobody does.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So um we’re all

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Elizabeth Clayton: Uh we all fail, we all have struggles, and um we can overcome those.

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Randy Black: Yeah.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So um

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Elizabeth Clayton: Anyway, it’s uh it’s quite interesting to say the least.

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Randy Black: You know, the what we were looking at there with fear is that feeling feeling feeling fear

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Randy Black: Does not mean you lack courage in any way, because fear is natural.

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Randy Black: It is a human emotion.

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Randy Black: It is deeply rooted in the way that humans have developed over time.

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Randy Black: Courage is taking action despite the fear.

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Randy Black: It’s pretty powerful

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Randy Black: Your your decisions that are considered courageous often will coexist with your vulnerabilities.

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Randy Black: You know, sometimes it’s, you know, you you have to pull up and have that courage to just get through because you were scared.

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Randy Black: You know, oftentimes we just assume courage mean courage means there’s no fear.

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Randy Black: That’s not the case at all.

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Randy Black: If I was getting ready to jump out of a plane with a parachute strapped to my back, I would be scared

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Randy Black: I would not find that to be an enjoyable experience.

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Randy Black: But if I knew that the only way I was getting back to the ground was to jump and pull the chute, I’d have to have the courage to do it.

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Randy Black: But the courage isn’t there because the fear is there.

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Randy Black: It’s my action to overcome the fear, to move past it.

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Randy Black: to find a way to to push forward out of it.

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Randy Black: So we have to we have to look at

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Randy Black: How things occur in our lives.

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Randy Black: And we have to understand that there is a huge importance in accepting our fears

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Randy Black: We have to accept them rather than judging it and using it to judge ourselves.

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Randy Black: Fear cannot define you.

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Randy Black: You can’t let it be that way

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Randy Black: You have to recognize your fear.

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Randy Black: Because if you recognize your fear, you can guide yourself to be better.

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Randy Black: You can help yourself to be more intentional in your choices.

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Randy Black: Yep.

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Randy Black: Acknowledging fear.

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Randy Black: How does that change the way we act?

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Randy Black: Well, it’s a huge change.

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Randy Black: Absolutely huge.

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Randy Black: But the bigger question when I look at this is what happens when we do stop judging ourselves

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Randy Black: When we do stop feeling bad because we feel afraid.

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Randy Black: Well, it’s like I just said, it pushes us.

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Randy Black: To be better.

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Randy Black: It pushes us to be more intentional.

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Randy Black: And on our daily lives, sometimes we just have to do that.

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Randy Black: And it’s not always the big moments that make that happen.

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Randy Black: You know, real life moments are where courage gets tested.

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Randy Black: That’s a big deal.

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Randy Black: There’s moments that happen daily in life.

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Randy Black: Where courage is required, not optional.

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Randy Black: Can you think of one from your daily life, Liz?

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Elizabeth Clayton: Oh gosh.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, um my life is there’s it’s quite interesting to say the least.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um

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Elizabeth Clayton: you know, getting up in the morning and just continuing with, you know, my day-to-day stuff.

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Elizabeth Clayton: I mean, it doesn’t sound like, oh, it’s, you know, there’s just days that some days I don’t want to do it.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Some days I don’t want to get up

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Elizabeth Clayton: Especially since my dad passed.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I think I prefaced this maybe on the last episode, but you know, there are times I just want to throw in the towel and just say, I don’t want to do it.

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Elizabeth Clayton: But um

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, I hear my dad whispering in my ear like he gotta keep going.

307
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Elizabeth Clayton: And, you know, like I I think I’ve said this to you.

308
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Elizabeth Clayton: Um

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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m not scared of anything anymore.

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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, there’s always those little doubts and things that creep into our mind, but um, you know, the one thing that lately, especially the last few days.

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Elizabeth Clayton: There is I’m putting myself out there a little more than I ever have, especially on social media.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Okay.

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Elizabeth Clayton: With my dad’s messages.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And then I’m, you know, I’m kind of creating some new content based off of the his believe, achieve, motivate.

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Elizabeth Clayton: Um

316
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Elizabeth Clayton: you know, material.

317
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Elizabeth Clayton: And um it’s there are days that a little bit of self doubt creeps in on me, like, Oh, what are people gonna think?

318
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Elizabeth Clayton: Are they gonna think I’m crazy for for doing all of this and I’m talking about my dad too much or whatever the case is, but you know what?

319
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Elizabeth Clayton: I realized it takes courage to keep going and being authentic in the world we live in.

320
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Elizabeth Clayton: And the crazy thing happened to me.

321
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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m gonna

322
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Elizabeth Clayton: I’ll t I’ll make this quick.

323
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Elizabeth Clayton: Last um last weekend, you know, when I was home and um it was like Saturday evening, my mom went upstairs and uh went to bed.

324
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Elizabeth Clayton: I was sitting on the couch.

325
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Elizabeth Clayton: Um

326
00:22:33,740 –> 00:22:38,060
Elizabeth Clayton: Just staring at my phone, doing some stuff on there, and and the the f the TV was blank.

327
00:22:38,060 –> 00:22:39,420
Elizabeth Clayton: It had gone to it was black.

328
00:22:39,420 –> 00:22:43,900
Elizabeth Clayton: There was nothing going on because we hadn’t, you know, I hadn’t watched anything in a little while.

329
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Elizabeth Clayton: And all of a sudden this thing pops on the TV and it’s like something from the universe.

330
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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m like, what in the world is going on?

331
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Elizabeth Clayton: What is this?

332
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Elizabeth Clayton: It’s called Stingray Stargate.

333
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Randy Black: Have you seen that?

334
00:22:52,460 –> 00:22:53,660
Randy Black: I have not.

335
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Elizabeth Clayton: Okay, it’s like something you can put on in the background.

336
00:22:55,760 –> 00:22:58,720
Elizabeth Clayton: Well I’m like, I don’t think this has ever come on the TV before.

337
00:22:58,720 –> 00:22:59,919
Elizabeth Clayton: What is going on?

338
00:22:59,919 –> 00:23:03,039
Elizabeth Clayton: Well my mother came down a little later and she goes, what is that thing?

339
00:23:03,120 –> 00:23:03,840
Elizabeth Clayton: It looked like

340
00:23:03,860 –> 00:23:08,419
Elizabeth Clayton: that what happens is it’s something that can go on your come on your screen like a screensaver.

341
00:23:08,419 –> 00:23:08,980
Randy Black: Yeah.

342
00:23:08,980 –> 00:23:13,700
Elizabeth Clayton: And uh it like it’s actual pictures from the universe of things.

343
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Elizabeth Clayton: Well

344
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Elizabeth Clayton: I looked it up.

345
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Elizabeth Clayton: My mom goes, what is that?

346
00:23:16,240 –> 00:23:17,200
Elizabeth Clayton: I’ve never seen that before.

347
00:23:17,200 –> 00:23:20,960
Elizabeth Clayton: I said, Well, I thought you maybe pluck program this on your TV or something.

348
00:23:20,960 –> 00:23:27,280
Elizabeth Clayton: So anyway, right when that came on the TV, I looked down at the clock and it said 1-1-1-1

349
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Elizabeth Clayton: I don’t know if you’ve ever paid attention to like angel numbers or numerology.

350
00:23:32,400 –> 00:23:34,240
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, I’m like, okay, what does that mean?

351
00:23:34,240 –> 00:23:34,880
Elizabeth Clayton: That’s weird.

352
00:23:34,880 –> 00:23:39,840
Elizabeth Clayton: So I looked it up and basically like your angel number means, you know, your loved ones are with you

353
00:23:39,600 –> 00:23:40,880
Elizabeth Clayton: They’re guiding you.

354
00:23:41,280 –> 00:23:44,320
Elizabeth Clayton: Good things are manifesting in your life the way they’re supposed to.

355
00:23:44,320 –> 00:23:45,760
Elizabeth Clayton: Just stay the course.

356
00:23:45,760 –> 00:23:48,400
Elizabeth Clayton: And so I’m like, well, that’s interesting.

357
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Elizabeth Clayton: So the next day, you know, we go up to Sports City.

358
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Elizabeth Clayton: You came in that evening.

359
00:23:52,419 –> 00:23:55,940
Elizabeth Clayton: And um I met a l uh gal that day.

360
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Elizabeth Clayton: Um her son she brought her son in, her name’s Julie.

361
00:23:58,660 –> 00:24:02,580
Elizabeth Clayton: Actually Julie Tawney, our supporter, is who I’m talking about

362
00:24:02,540 –> 00:24:09,660
Elizabeth Clayton: And she we started talking and I told her about what happened the the night before and she goes, Well, you know, my sister’s a psychic medium.

363
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Elizabeth Clayton: We start talked a little bit about that and yada yada and just some cool things.

364
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Elizabeth Clayton: And so the next day, that Monday

365
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Elizabeth Clayton: She sent me a a video from this lady and the lady goes, was talking about Sunday.

366
00:24:23,040 –> 00:24:26,320
Elizabeth Clayton: And she goes, Did you know that Sunday was

367
00:24:26,919 –> 00:24:29,799
Elizabeth Clayton: January 11th, 2026.

368
00:24:29,799 –> 00:24:32,120
Elizabeth Clayton: And it was one one one one.

369
00:24:32,120 –> 00:24:34,200
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m like, well, how does that work?

370
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Elizabeth Clayton: Okay, January is one.

371
00:24:37,220 –> 00:24:41,780
Elizabeth Clayton: 11th, 1-1, but she said 2026 in numerology means one.

372
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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m like, oh my gosh, what is going on here?

373
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Elizabeth Clayton: Oh, you know, the more I’ve dived into it, I’m like, okay, dad, are you trying to tell me something here?

374
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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, like I gotta keep going.

375
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Elizabeth Clayton: You know, good things are happening.

376
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Elizabeth Clayton: I’m not gonna be scared.

377
00:24:54,760 –> 00:24:55,960
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m gonna, you know

378
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Elizabeth Clayton: That that’s kind of my own the the messages that I’m I’m getting from somewhere.

379
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Elizabeth Clayton: So um it takes courage though to keep doing these things.

380
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Elizabeth Clayton: And um I felt like I needed those things to happen.

381
00:25:08,500 –> 00:25:10,820
Elizabeth Clayton: It gave me courage to keep going.

382
00:25:10,820 –> 00:25:13,940
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, because this week I’ve had a little bit of self-doubt creep in.

383
00:25:13,940 –> 00:25:15,700
Elizabeth Clayton: I don’t know why, but I have.

384
00:25:15,700 –> 00:25:19,140
Elizabeth Clayton: And you wanna know it’s a another thing that happened to me?

385
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Elizabeth Clayton: Uh this week, um I had fallen asleep on Mike’s couch one night and got up real early, went home, let my dogs out, and then I went to work.

386
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Elizabeth Clayton: And um all day I’m like, something is in my shoe.

387
00:25:32,720 –> 00:25:34,000
Elizabeth Clayton: What is happening here?

388
00:25:34,000 –> 00:25:36,800
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, I thought it was my sock just messed up.

389
00:25:36,800 –> 00:25:40,960
Elizabeth Clayton: And um middle of the day, I’m like, I took my shoe off

390
00:25:41,040 –> 00:25:44,160
Elizabeth Clayton: And in there was a shiny penny.

391
00:25:44,160 –> 00:25:46,720
Elizabeth Clayton: It was the shiniest penny I’ve ever seen.

392
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Elizabeth Clayton: And I swear to you, I’d been talking to my dad that morning.

393
00:25:50,480 –> 00:25:54,000
Elizabeth Clayton: And um anyway, you’ve heard of pennies from heaven?

394
00:25:54,000 –> 00:25:55,680
Elizabeth Clayton: Mm-hmm.

395
00:25:55,019 –> 00:25:59,260
Elizabeth Clayton: Like, well, okie dokie dad, I hear you loud and clear here.

396
00:25:59,260 –> 00:25:59,899
Randy Black: Yeah.

397
00:25:59,899 –> 00:26:01,899
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m not doubting myself anymore.

398
00:26:01,899 –> 00:26:02,539
Randy Black: Yeah.

399
00:26:02,539 –> 00:26:09,340
Randy Black: So so you know, in when when we navigate those tough moments, you know, with things that happen like that, we have to

400
00:26:09,620 –> 00:26:21,380
Randy Black: We have to look at them from a from a bigger picture sometimes, in that we have to make sure that we have the right mindset with what we’re doing.

401
00:26:21,980 –> 00:26:28,060
Randy Black: That if we need it, we have the support that’s going to hold us up and and help us.

402
00:26:28,060 –> 00:26:36,380
Randy Black: We have to see that the timing of the situation aligns with us to use that courage successfully.

403
00:26:35,540 –> 00:26:39,380
Randy Black: But ultimately, that we have to make the choice.

404
00:26:39,380 –> 00:26:42,980
Randy Black: We have to choose to be courageous.

405
00:26:42,980 –> 00:26:45,380
Randy Black: We have to move forward with that.

406
00:26:45,600 –> 00:26:53,679
Randy Black: You know, the mindset and personal choice shape the responses we have to challenges.

407
00:26:53,679 –> 00:26:58,080
Randy Black: Because courage is not an inherent trait.

408
00:26:58,560 –> 00:27:06,080
Randy Black: Previously on the show, we talked about resilience with your dad and and how that resilience is not an inherent trait.

409
00:27:06,080 –> 00:27:08,000
Randy Black: It’s not something you have.

410
00:27:08,000 –> 00:27:09,360
Randy Black: You have to build it up.

411
00:27:09,360 –> 00:27:11,120
Randy Black: You have to create it.

412
00:27:11,120 –> 00:27:12,400
Randy Black: Well, courage

413
00:27:13,140 –> 00:27:14,580
Randy Black: Is a choice.

414
00:27:14,580 –> 00:27:17,140
Randy Black: It’s a decision you have to make.

415
00:27:17,140 –> 00:27:20,020
Randy Black: It’s not something you just have.

416
00:27:20,020 –> 00:27:22,660
Randy Black: You have to build it up.

417
00:27:22,660 –> 00:27:24,260
Randy Black: And sometimes

418
00:27:25,660 –> 00:27:29,179
Randy Black: We don’t know the best way to do that.

419
00:27:29,179 –> 00:27:32,700
Randy Black: We don’t have a clear path

420
00:27:33,140 –> 00:27:40,340
Randy Black: We don’t have necessarily a personality trait that supports being courageous.

421
00:27:40,340 –> 00:27:43,940
Randy Black: You know, there are there are ways that we have to

422
00:27:44,419 –> 00:27:48,419
Randy Black: Practice it daily, even in those little small situations.

423
00:27:48,419 –> 00:27:54,580
Randy Black: So for example, let’s say that you know you’re at work and you have that one person

424
00:27:55,440 –> 00:28:01,919
Randy Black: That just gets under your skin because they know what to do to push your buttons.

425
00:28:02,240 –> 00:28:07,600
Randy Black: Sometimes it takes courage to hold back and to not

426
00:28:08,760 –> 00:28:10,679
Randy Black: go after them as well.

427
00:28:10,679 –> 00:28:14,760
Randy Black: You have to hold that back and that takes some courage.

428
00:28:14,760 –> 00:28:21,399
Randy Black: You know, in your in your you know family life, my brother knows exactly how to do that

429
00:28:21,720 –> 00:28:24,680
Randy Black: And I think it’s because we shared a womb.

430
00:28:24,680 –> 00:28:34,360
Randy Black: But, you know, it it takes the courage to say, it’s okay, and just let the water roll off my back and not let it

431
00:28:35,280 –> 00:28:45,120
Randy Black: Not let it the fear of the situation, you know, let that push me into a a mode that is counterproductive to what I want to do.

432
00:28:45,120 –> 00:28:46,720
Randy Black: To have the courage to just say

433
00:28:47,240 –> 00:28:48,440
Randy Black: It’s okay.

434
00:28:48,840 –> 00:28:50,280
Randy Black: I’m gonna let it go.

435
00:28:50,280 –> 00:28:55,320
Randy Black: You know, there’s there’s an interplay that exists between mindset

436
00:28:56,019 –> 00:29:00,419
Randy Black: and perspective and taking deliberate action.

437
00:29:00,419 –> 00:29:08,340
Randy Black: And when those all come into alignment, it’s very easy to show up courageously

438
00:29:09,800 –> 00:29:20,680
Randy Black: So when I think about it, it’s what, you know, what is one thing, one question that somebody might ask themselves in a hard moment?

439
00:29:21,540 –> 00:29:24,740
Randy Black: To move toward courage.

440
00:29:24,740 –> 00:29:31,460
Randy Black: Well, I think the easiest one might be something as simple as what’s the brave thing I can do now?

441
00:29:32,500 –> 00:29:42,100
Randy Black: I mean it sounds simple, but it’s powerful because you have you have to sit there and think.

442
00:29:42,660 –> 00:29:44,740
Randy Black: What what is the brave action?

443
00:29:44,740 –> 00:29:51,539
Randy Black: What’s the action that takes my fear and pushes it aside so I can move forward?

444
00:29:51,980 –> 00:29:59,100
Randy Black: And there’s a lot of times in life that we just we just don’t have that.

445
00:29:59,100 –> 00:30:04,940
Randy Black: And it it takes the skill of prepare or preparing the skill to be able to do it.

446
00:30:04,760 –> 00:30:12,520
Randy Black: To be able to take that action that is courageous and move forward with it in in spite of the fear that you feel.

447
00:30:12,919 –> 00:30:17,240
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, do you remember the movie The Brave Little Toaster from back in the day?

448
00:30:17,240 –> 00:30:17,960
Randy Black: Vaguely

449
00:30:18,640 –> 00:30:22,080
Elizabeth Clayton: That movie, just when we were when you were talking about this, I thought of that.

450
00:30:22,080 –> 00:30:24,000
Elizabeth Clayton: Um that was quite a favorite.

451
00:30:24,000 –> 00:30:28,240
Elizabeth Clayton: My mother videotaped everything on the Disney Channel back in the day.

452
00:30:28,240 –> 00:30:28,960
Elizabeth Clayton: And um

453
00:30:29,360 –> 00:30:31,279
Elizabeth Clayton: I made my nieces watch it recently.

454
00:30:31,279 –> 00:30:39,600
Elizabeth Clayton: Of course, anything that anything that, you know, we liked when we were kids and you try to make a young child watch it nowadays, they can’t pay attention to it.

455
00:30:39,760 –> 00:30:40,799
Elizabeth Clayton: It’s just not

456
00:30:40,960 –> 00:30:50,080
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah, but that movie, um, it always uh inst there was something about that that it instilled something in me as a child and uh you made me think of it.

457
00:30:50,160 –> 00:30:51,040
Randy Black: Nice.

458
00:30:51,919 –> 00:31:00,799
Randy Black: So that kind of that kind of takes care of or takes care of us looking at, you know, facing the tough stuff in life.

459
00:31:01,000 –> 00:31:03,559
Randy Black: So we’re gonna move forward in the conversation here.

460
00:31:04,039 –> 00:31:04,679
Elizabeth Clayton: Yes.

461
00:31:04,679 –> 00:31:10,440
Elizabeth Clayton: Um well uh Randy, we’ve talked about, you know, recognizing courage when things get hard.

462
00:31:10,740 –> 00:31:13,940
Elizabeth Clayton: But what about learning from those experiences?

463
00:31:14,500 –> 00:31:19,620
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, every tough moment has lessons if we take to take the time to reflect on them.

464
00:31:19,620 –> 00:31:21,940
Elizabeth Clayton: And that’s what we’ll explore next.

465
00:31:21,760 –> 00:31:27,200
Elizabeth Clayton: you know, how preparation, perspective, and choice shape courage in the long run.

466
00:31:27,200 –> 00:31:31,600
Randy Black: You know, the idea is that learning you learn courage through adversity

467
00:31:31,900 –> 00:31:32,540
Elizabeth Clayton: Mm-hmm.

468
00:31:40,120 –> 00:31:47,000
Randy Black: Um courage is sometimes courage is only obvious in hindsight.

469
00:31:47,560 –> 00:31:53,880
Randy Black: I’m sure you could, you know, you can think on situations in your life where you’ve done something and when you look back at it, you went.

470
00:31:54,120 –> 00:31:58,520
Randy Black: Man, that was one of those courageous one of the most courageous things I ever did.

471
00:31:58,520 –> 00:32:00,120
Randy Black: We all have those.

472
00:32:00,120 –> 00:32:05,320
Randy Black: The idea is to help learn courage, you have to reflect.

473
00:32:05,419 –> 00:32:08,700
Randy Black: You have to look back on your past experiences.

474
00:32:08,700 –> 00:32:15,020
Randy Black: Fear in a moment can shape your future responses to any challenge.

475
00:32:15,019 –> 00:32:20,860
Randy Black: I used to love to ride roller coasters.

476
00:32:20,860 –> 00:32:22,940
Randy Black: But only wooden ones.

477
00:32:23,260 –> 00:32:25,500
Randy Black: I wasn’t a fan of steel coasters

478
00:32:25,440 –> 00:32:25,919
Elizabeth Clayton: What is it?

479
00:32:25,919 –> 00:32:26,639
Elizabeth Clayton: The Big Dipper?

480
00:32:27,279 –> 00:32:29,039
Randy Black: Big Dipper was the best one, man.

481
00:32:29,039 –> 00:32:30,480
Randy Black: I love that thing.

482
00:32:30,480 –> 00:32:32,000
Elizabeth Clayton: That thing’s still kicking.

483
00:32:32,000 –> 00:32:33,200
Randy Black: Uh yes, it’s yes.

484
00:32:33,440 –> 00:32:36,639
Elizabeth Clayton: Do you remember the one that would go upside down at Camden Park?

485
00:32:36,960 –> 00:32:37,600
Randy Black: What was that called?

486
00:32:37,600 –> 00:32:38,159
Elizabeth Clayton: What was that called?

487
00:32:38,240 –> 00:32:40,159
Randy Black: The Thunderbolt Express.

488
00:32:39,760 –> 00:32:40,240
Elizabeth Clayton: Oh my god.

489
00:32:40,559 –> 00:32:43,679
Randy Black: Which was originally at King’s Island as the screaming demon.

490
00:32:43,679 –> 00:32:44,240
Elizabeth Clayton: Wow.

491
00:32:44,720 –> 00:32:45,840
Elizabeth Clayton: It’s yeah.

492
00:32:45,840 –> 00:32:47,760
Randy Black: But I, you know, it took

493
00:32:48,240 –> 00:32:56,480
Randy Black: major courage for me to get on things like the vortex that used to be at King’s Island and the flight of fear that’s still there.

494
00:32:56,480 –> 00:32:56,799
Randy Black: Um

495
00:32:58,640 –> 00:33:03,520
Randy Black: My wife got my wife got me on the rock and roller coaster at Hollywood Studios at Disney.

496
00:33:04,320 –> 00:33:06,160
Randy Black: I won’t do that one again.

497
00:33:06,160 –> 00:33:06,480
Randy Black: Um

498
00:33:07,500 –> 00:33:13,419
Randy Black: It takes it took it took courage to to step up and move to that level of trying to do things.

499
00:33:13,419 –> 00:33:14,460
Randy Black: I still don’t do well.

500
00:33:14,460 –> 00:33:16,860
Randy Black: Like I won’t ride one where my feet are dangling.

501
00:33:16,860 –> 00:33:17,580
Randy Black: I won’t do that.

502
00:33:18,340 –> 00:33:22,340
Randy Black: Um, and mostly because right now I don’t know that I would fit in one of them.

503
00:33:22,340 –> 00:33:25,140
Randy Black: Um being a larger fellow.

504
00:33:25,140 –> 00:33:28,419
Randy Black: But you know, something like that I just I can’t do.

505
00:33:28,419 –> 00:33:28,740
Randy Black: But

506
00:33:29,040 –> 00:33:32,880
Randy Black: It took a lot of courage on my part to step up and do it.

507
00:33:32,880 –> 00:33:37,760
Randy Black: So after the first time, I could reflect back on it and go, well, I rode this one.

508
00:33:37,760 –> 00:33:39,520
Randy Black: I should be able to ride this one.

509
00:33:39,440 –> 00:33:42,000
Randy Black: and and find a way to push forward.

510
00:33:42,000 –> 00:33:48,480
Randy Black: You know, there’s there’s practical lessons we can learn through tough times that we face.

511
00:33:48,900 –> 00:33:51,780
Randy Black: You know, we can learn patience.

512
00:33:51,780 –> 00:33:53,700
Randy Black: I mean, think about it.

513
00:33:53,700 –> 00:33:55,860
Randy Black: You may face a situation where

514
00:33:56,820 –> 00:34:04,260
Randy Black: You’re not getting the answer or the response that you want, but you gotta be patient and wait on it.

515
00:34:04,260 –> 00:34:07,620
Randy Black: And sometimes being patient takes courage.

516
00:34:08,820 –> 00:34:13,220
Randy Black: Sometimes you have to be, sometimes you will learn about persistence.

517
00:34:13,220 –> 00:34:15,700
Randy Black: Sometimes you have to be that squeaky will

518
00:34:15,960 –> 00:34:17,320
Randy Black: That gets the grease.

519
00:34:17,320 –> 00:34:19,880
Randy Black: You keep pushing, you keep pushing, you keep pushing.

520
00:34:19,880 –> 00:34:24,280
Randy Black: And that takes courage because that’s not going to make some people very happy.

521
00:34:25,240 –> 00:34:27,240
Randy Black: But it will get a result.

522
00:34:27,700 –> 00:34:33,700
Randy Black: And sometimes you have to come up with creative ways to solve problems.

523
00:34:33,700 –> 00:34:38,420
Randy Black: A lot of people wouldn’t think of that as being a cur uh of involving courage, but.

524
00:34:38,620 –> 00:34:41,100
Randy Black: In so many ways it does.

525
00:34:41,100 –> 00:34:53,179
Randy Black: You know, I can think of times at work where we’re trying to come up with a way to solve a problem and nobody’s really sticking their neck out there to come up with a solution.

526
00:34:52,520 –> 00:34:55,399
Randy Black: And eventually somebody does because they’re like, well, we’ve never tried this.

527
00:34:55,399 –> 00:34:56,919
Randy Black: How about we go this route?

528
00:34:56,919 –> 00:34:58,280
Randy Black: That’s courage.

529
00:34:58,280 –> 00:34:59,720
Randy Black: You’re trying something new.

530
00:34:59,960 –> 00:35:03,720
Randy Black: You’re pushing beyond the fear of we don’t know if this is going to work or not.

531
00:35:04,440 –> 00:35:13,640
Randy Black: So you have to you have to understand that there is a a major theoretical difference between understanding of courage.

532
00:35:13,640 –> 00:35:15,560
Randy Black: Yeah, I know what courage is.

533
00:35:15,560 –> 00:35:17,720
Randy Black: I know what it’s supposed to look like.

534
00:35:18,020 –> 00:35:23,060
Randy Black: And the real life application of courage.

535
00:35:23,060 –> 00:35:24,180
Elizabeth Clayton: Mm-hmm.

536
00:35:24,260 –> 00:35:31,060
Randy Black: You can you can explain courage all day long, but until you experience it, you really have no idea.

537
00:35:32,720 –> 00:35:34,560
Elizabeth Clayton: You got that right.

538
00:35:34,560 –> 00:35:41,680
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, well, you brought up a topic that’s very fascinating to me that I don’t I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about or not, but um

539
00:35:42,560 –> 00:35:50,720
Elizabeth Clayton: uh you know um a moment moments in life that um you actually let’s go back to

540
00:35:50,880 –> 00:35:52,640
Elizabeth Clayton: You probably my dad said this.

541
00:35:52,640 –> 00:35:55,200
Elizabeth Clayton: He’s I don’t know if he said it in the podcast, but he said it in a video.

542
00:35:55,200 –> 00:35:57,840
Elizabeth Clayton: He goes, you know, basketball and life run parallel.

543
00:35:58,240 –> 00:36:04,480
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, um and all of the lessons that I’ve taken um when I was when we opened Sports City

544
00:36:04,559 –> 00:36:12,880
Elizabeth Clayton: Back in nineteen ninety two, you know, looking back as a child, I was so scared to get out on the basketball court.

545
00:36:13,040 –> 00:36:15,840
Elizabeth Clayton: and jump into a class or like play in a league game.

546
00:36:15,840 –> 00:36:18,720
Elizabeth Clayton: I mean, there were times I would hide under the desk, okay?

547
00:36:18,720 –> 00:36:20,640
Elizabeth Clayton: And you’re probably thinking, huh

548
00:36:20,740 –> 00:36:21,140
Elizabeth Clayton: Who?

549
00:36:21,300 –> 00:36:21,860
Elizabeth Clayton: What?

550
00:36:21,860 –> 00:36:25,300
Elizabeth Clayton: She was like that, you know, because I am so opposite of that now.

551
00:36:25,300 –> 00:36:25,860
Elizabeth Clayton: Oh yeah.

552
00:36:25,860 –> 00:36:32,340
Elizabeth Clayton: But um I remember, you know, uh my dad just kept encouraging me and I really didn’t start

553
00:36:32,260 –> 00:36:35,780
Elizabeth Clayton: playing till I was in fourth or fifth grade, you know, really.

554
00:36:35,780 –> 00:36:47,060
Elizabeth Clayton: Um but uh there was one time I remember my dad and I were by ourselves at Sports City and um I said, Dad, teach me how to shoot a jump shot.

555
00:36:46,460 –> 00:36:53,820
Elizabeth Clayton: And I’ll I if I could have a video of this or just even a picture, oh my gosh, I can see it in my head, you know, like it was yesterday.

556
00:36:53,820 –> 00:37:00,460
Elizabeth Clayton: But we went out in that gym for about an hour and he taught me how I was in maybe third or fourth grade and he taught me how to shoot a jump shot

557
00:37:00,260 –> 00:37:02,020
Elizabeth Clayton: And it clicked right there.

558
00:37:02,020 –> 00:37:04,020
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, it gave me confidence.

559
00:37:04,020 –> 00:37:08,340
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, but you know, I was so scared to get out there and like run around with all these kids.

560
00:37:08,340 –> 00:37:11,620
Elizabeth Clayton: And I look back thinking, man, I missed out on so much

561
00:37:11,960 –> 00:37:15,480
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, my brother he my dad threw my brother out there like it was nothing.

562
00:37:15,480 –> 00:37:20,360
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, he’d be out there at five years old playing with the high school kids, you know, and here I was like

563
00:37:20,559 –> 00:37:23,680
Elizabeth Clayton: you know, hovering in fear, like I can’t go out there.

564
00:37:23,680 –> 00:37:26,720
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, but somehow I overcame that.

565
00:37:26,720 –> 00:37:31,359
Elizabeth Clayton: And um looking back through all the years of being in the gym, you know, there was always

566
00:37:31,260 –> 00:37:32,780
Elizabeth Clayton: I always played basketball.

567
00:37:32,780 –> 00:37:36,700
Elizabeth Clayton: There was always this fear in the back of my mind, can I do this?

568
00:37:36,700 –> 00:37:42,380
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, I think I almost limited myself on the court sometimes, but I always knew I could shoot a basketball.

569
00:37:42,380 –> 00:37:43,660
Elizabeth Clayton: One way or the other.

570
00:37:43,660 –> 00:37:45,020
Elizabeth Clayton: I could shoot it

571
00:37:45,120 –> 00:37:48,400
Elizabeth Clayton: And um, you know, I was always so envious of my brother.

572
00:37:48,400 –> 00:37:54,080
Elizabeth Clayton: He could break people’s ankles and um, you know, with the basketball, handle the ball.

573
00:37:54,080 –> 00:37:56,240
Elizabeth Clayton: And I’m like, why can’t I do that?

574
00:37:56,320 –> 00:37:56,640
Elizabeth Clayton: But

575
00:37:56,859 –> 00:37:58,380
Elizabeth Clayton: you know, that was his strength.

576
00:37:58,380 –> 00:38:09,500
Elizabeth Clayton: But anyway, um, you know, it took a lot of courage for me at one point to get out on that court and really, you know, be out there with my dad and ’cause I, you know, I knew he was so good at what he did

577
00:38:09,400 –> 00:38:14,200
Elizabeth Clayton: And I’m like, I can’t be that kid that like looks like they don’t know what they’re doing.

578
00:38:14,200 –> 00:38:22,920
Elizabeth Clayton: Oh anyway, uh yeah, it’s it looking back on that, I’m like, man, I really it took me a long time to overcome

579
00:38:22,960 –> 00:38:26,800
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, people that meet me now, they’re like, You’re s there’s you’re so much like your dad.

580
00:38:26,800 –> 00:38:30,880
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m like, well, took me a while, but

581
00:38:31,260 –> 00:38:37,900
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, uh as you grow older and you go through certain situations in life, you’re like, you’re stronger than you know, you think you are, that’s for sure.

582
00:38:37,900 –> 00:38:38,540
Randy Black: Yeah.

583
00:38:38,540 –> 00:38:42,380
Randy Black: You know, and it and you know, for you, you have to overcome

584
00:38:42,840 –> 00:38:45,960
Randy Black: you know, the fear of, you know, your dad.

585
00:38:45,960 –> 00:38:51,960
Randy Black: I mean the fear of the, you know, can I can I hold myself up to the same standard that he’s at?

586
00:38:51,840 –> 00:38:54,400
Randy Black: You know, that’s and every child has that about their parent.

587
00:38:54,400 –> 00:39:05,760
Randy Black: Like, you know, for example, you just recently shared a video on Facebook from YouTube that they’re interviewing a player, um, uh Petrovic.

588
00:39:05,720 –> 00:39:15,880
Randy Black: Who was who played who had been traded from Portland to New Jersey and they’re interviewing him on him on he goes on TNT on a on a on a broadcast.

589
00:39:15,880 –> 00:39:18,920
Randy Black: And in the background you got Chris Dudley shooting

590
00:39:19,040 –> 00:39:24,240
Randy Black: And then you see every once in a while Jimmy Clayton coming into the shot.

591
00:39:24,240 –> 00:39:28,480
Randy Black: And you gotta think about it is if I can’t make a jump shot,

592
00:39:28,920 –> 00:39:29,800
Randy Black: That’s not good.

593
00:39:29,800 –> 00:39:32,280
Randy Black: My dad’s the shot doctor.

594
00:39:32,280 –> 00:39:34,440
Randy Black: It had to be it had to be tough.

595
00:39:34,440 –> 00:39:37,320
Randy Black: You know, and like I I don’t know that

596
00:39:37,920 –> 00:39:51,120
Randy Black: I could have gone into my parent my family business, which is an automotive repair, and and done the same, you know, lived up to the expectations of, you know, my grandfather did this, my dad did this.

597
00:39:50,960 –> 00:39:52,880
Randy Black: Because I just wasn’t interested in it.

598
00:39:52,880 –> 00:39:55,280
Randy Black: It wasn’t something I wanted to do.

599
00:39:55,280 –> 00:40:00,400
Randy Black: So it would be it’d be tough to overcome that and and try to do it.

600
00:40:00,400 –> 00:40:02,960
Randy Black: So totally, totally get it.

601
00:40:02,960 –> 00:40:03,280
Randy Black: Um

602
00:40:04,740 –> 00:40:16,500
Randy Black: But as we keep going through, you know, we have to we have to understand that there is a very, very strong role in courage for preparation.

603
00:40:17,440 –> 00:40:21,280
Randy Black: Preparation doesn’t remove fear.

604
00:40:21,280 –> 00:40:26,480
Randy Black: You can be prepared and still be scared out of your wits.

605
00:40:27,920 –> 00:40:30,560
Randy Black: But here’s an example.

606
00:40:30,980 –> 00:40:33,780
Randy Black: Same trip to Disney.

607
00:40:33,780 –> 00:40:36,180
Randy Black: She got me on Tower of Terror.

608
00:40:36,180 –> 00:40:37,460
Elizabeth Clayton: Oh Lord.

609
00:40:37,780 –> 00:40:40,020
Randy Black: And I was prepared.

610
00:40:41,240 –> 00:40:42,760
Randy Black: But I wasn’t.

611
00:40:42,760 –> 00:40:52,120
Randy Black: And when that floor, when that elevator dropped, and I came a couple inches off my seat, I was not doing very well.

612
00:40:53,320 –> 00:40:57,640
Randy Black: Being prepared doesn’t remove the fear.

613
00:40:57,640 –> 00:41:07,000
Randy Black: It will reduce the panic you may experience, and it may increase your confidence.

614
00:41:06,480 –> 00:41:09,760
Randy Black: But it doesn’t remove the fear.

615
00:41:09,760 –> 00:41:12,000
Randy Black: And you have to think about it.

616
00:41:12,000 –> 00:41:17,840
Randy Black: Because when you prepare for things, there are multiple ways that you can prepare.

617
00:41:18,120 –> 00:41:30,200
Randy Black: You can mentally prepare, you can emotionally prepare, or you can do a practical preparation where you’re you’re you’re preparing yourself to just step in the situation and handle it the best way you can

618
00:41:31,039 –> 00:41:38,079
Randy Black: But it doesn’t always work out for you in those high pressure moments

619
00:41:39,600 –> 00:41:49,840
Randy Black: Sometimes it takes, and I’ve talked about these before in the show, especially with your dad, those small, consistent habits

620
00:41:50,780 –> 00:41:54,140
Randy Black: For planning, reflection, self-talk.

621
00:41:54,140 –> 00:41:58,140
Randy Black: Those compound together into readiness.

622
00:41:58,380 –> 00:42:01,020
Randy Black: All those small little things add up

623
00:42:01,620 –> 00:42:03,940
Randy Black: for those bigger challenges.

624
00:42:03,940 –> 00:42:10,260
Randy Black: If you can handle the small stuff, all that small stuff combined should help you.

625
00:42:10,160 –> 00:42:17,520
Randy Black: to move into those bigger challenges and be able to handle them as well and pull out the courage to move forward with them.

626
00:42:18,400 –> 00:42:23,840
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, it’s funny, uh, as you’re talking about this, uh I think my dad has a video.

627
00:42:23,840 –> 00:42:24,880
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m gonna have to send it to you.

628
00:42:24,880 –> 00:42:26,320
Elizabeth Clayton: I’ll I’ll post it at some point.

629
00:42:26,320 –> 00:42:30,080
Elizabeth Clayton: But one of the things he always talked about, I think he was in high school

630
00:42:30,200 –> 00:42:34,520
Elizabeth Clayton: And high school or college and one of his teachers came in and he wrote this on the board.

631
00:42:34,520 –> 00:42:37,880
Elizabeth Clayton: He goes, I want you to repeat after me and we’re gonna say this every day.

632
00:42:37,880 –> 00:42:38,360
Randy Black: Mm-hmm.

633
00:42:38,460 –> 00:42:39,740
Elizabeth Clayton: The six piece.

634
00:42:39,740 –> 00:42:40,220
Randy Black: Yep.

635
00:42:40,220 –> 00:42:43,820
Elizabeth Clayton: Prior, proper planning prevents poor performance.

636
00:42:43,820 –> 00:42:47,820
Elizabeth Clayton: And he did a video, I found it on his phone, where he talks about this.

637
00:42:47,820 –> 00:42:48,700
Randy Black: And I believe he talked

638
00:42:48,960 –> 00:42:49,920
Randy Black: He did it on the show too.

639
00:42:50,160 –> 00:42:51,440
Elizabeth Clayton: That’s what I thought.

640
00:42:51,440 –> 00:42:57,840
Elizabeth Clayton: And um, you know, those are very wise words.

641
00:42:57,840 –> 00:43:01,840
Elizabeth Clayton: And um he was kind of the master at

642
00:43:02,520 –> 00:43:11,079
Elizabeth Clayton: you know, um doing those little things uh to prepare and he didn’t always have it all together, but he figured it out.

643
00:43:11,079 –> 00:43:13,400
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, you know, with his daily habits.

644
00:43:13,400 –> 00:43:15,480
Elizabeth Clayton: And that’s one of the things I always loved about my dad.

645
00:43:15,480 –> 00:43:15,640
Elizabeth Clayton: And

646
00:43:15,900 –> 00:43:18,299
Elizabeth Clayton: If there’s anything I took from him, it’s that.

647
00:43:18,299 –> 00:43:19,740
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, that’s for sure.

648
00:43:19,740 –> 00:43:24,460
Elizabeth Clayton: And um, you know, but that was a very powerful

649
00:43:25,480 –> 00:43:27,080
Elizabeth Clayton: thing in his life.

650
00:43:27,080 –> 00:43:35,080
Elizabeth Clayton: For whenever he learned that till the day he died, those that those six words together, he used those quite frequently.

651
00:43:35,400 –> 00:43:36,600
Elizabeth Clayton: And he always

652
00:43:36,940 –> 00:43:40,220
Elizabeth Clayton: would repeat them to me, you know, throughout life.

653
00:43:40,220 –> 00:43:40,700
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

654
00:43:40,700 –> 00:43:44,619
Elizabeth Clayton: And um, you know, uh I get it now.

655
00:43:44,619 –> 00:43:45,740
Elizabeth Clayton: That’s for sure.

656
00:43:45,740 –> 00:43:46,220
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

657
00:43:46,220 –> 00:43:51,339
Randy Black: And you know, when we when we talk about the the idea of preparation, you you have to remember that

658
00:43:51,780 –> 00:43:59,540
Randy Black: When we’ve laid the groundwork beforehand, courage is going to arrive a lot faster.

659
00:43:59,540 –> 00:44:03,060
Randy Black: When you’ve prepared, you can pull that out a whole lot quicker.

660
00:44:03,060 –> 00:44:06,180
Randy Black: You can move forward, you can handle those situations.

661
00:44:06,320 –> 00:44:13,280
Randy Black: But ultimately it all comes down to courage is a decision.

662
00:44:13,280 –> 00:44:15,360
Randy Black: It is not a feeling.

663
00:44:15,360 –> 00:44:16,800
Randy Black: It is a choice

664
00:44:17,940 –> 00:44:25,300
Randy Black: Waiting to feel brave, like to get that feeling inside, I’m brave, I can do this, it will delay your action.

665
00:44:25,300 –> 00:44:27,060
Randy Black: You won’t step out.

666
00:44:27,060 –> 00:44:28,900
Randy Black: You’ll wait to feel that

667
00:44:29,660 –> 00:44:33,340
Randy Black: And that’s that’s a a a powerful thing to think about.

668
00:44:33,340 –> 00:44:39,980
Randy Black: You know, when you when you look at how we frame courage,

669
00:44:40,500 –> 00:44:46,900
Randy Black: You know, currently most people look at it and frame it as a feeling.

670
00:44:46,900 –> 00:44:48,020
Randy Black: And it’s not.

671
00:44:48,020 –> 00:44:51,380
Randy Black: So when you reframe it to a decision,

672
00:44:52,020 –> 00:44:56,820
Randy Black: It empowers you to take consistent action.

673
00:44:56,820 –> 00:45:00,980
Randy Black: People often expect courage to feel confident

674
00:45:02,220 –> 00:45:08,060
Randy Black: And that expectation can be extremely limiting.

675
00:45:08,060 –> 00:45:12,060
Randy Black: Because sometimes when you take some, when you take that step that’s courageous.

676
00:45:12,420 –> 00:45:15,220
Randy Black: You are not confident in any way.

677
00:45:15,220 –> 00:45:19,300
Randy Black: You’re sticking yourself out there and you’re hoping things work out.

678
00:45:19,300 –> 00:45:21,060
Randy Black: And that’s not confident.

679
00:45:21,060 –> 00:45:23,700
Randy Black: And sometimes that’s the way you have to be

680
00:45:25,540 –> 00:45:28,340
Elizabeth Clayton: Huh, well, I’m not gonna lie.

681
00:45:28,340 –> 00:45:32,980
Elizabeth Clayton: Uh I went through this a few months ago, the day of my dad’s service.

682
00:45:32,980 –> 00:45:36,580
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, you know, I I listened to all of your all speeches.

683
00:45:36,559 –> 00:45:45,760
Elizabeth Clayton: And I was the last one and the whole week, you know, I can get up in front of anybody and talk, but the whole week I just could not sit down and write anything down.

684
00:45:46,000 –> 00:45:49,599
Elizabeth Clayton: Like I I’m like, what am I gonna say?

685
00:45:49,240 –> 00:45:55,320
Elizabeth Clayton: So literally, I took notes the morning of, and I got up there and I don’t even know what rolled out of my mouth.

686
00:45:55,320 –> 00:45:57,160
Elizabeth Clayton: I know bits and pieces of it, but

687
00:45:57,359 –> 00:45:58,240
Elizabeth Clayton: I did it anyway.

688
00:45:58,240 –> 00:46:02,000
Elizabeth Clayton: I told the past I told Kevin Schulb I said I don’t know if I can do this.

689
00:46:02,000 –> 00:46:03,680
Elizabeth Clayton: I think I told you maybe that too.

690
00:46:03,680 –> 00:46:05,280
Elizabeth Clayton: I don’t know if I can do this

691
00:46:05,500 –> 00:46:07,500
Elizabeth Clayton: And he goes, yes, yes, you can.

692
00:46:07,500 –> 00:46:11,820
Elizabeth Clayton: And I remember him sitting up on the stage and I’m sitting there thinking, I can’t do this.

693
00:46:11,820 –> 00:46:13,820
Elizabeth Clayton: And he shook his head at me.

694
00:46:13,600 –> 00:46:16,320
Elizabeth Clayton: And I’m like, okay, here we go, Dad.

695
00:46:16,960 –> 00:46:19,200
Elizabeth Clayton: I don’t know what’s about to happen.

696
00:46:19,200 –> 00:46:25,040
Elizabeth Clayton: But it was one of those moments in my life where I I just I couldn’t get it together.

697
00:46:24,740 –> 00:46:35,060
Elizabeth Clayton: Which is understandable, but I still tried and I pushed past my fear and uh, you know, I I had to find courage somewhere ’cause

698
00:46:36,060 –> 00:46:39,260
Elizabeth Clayton: At the end of the day, you know, everyone came up to me and said, Oh, it sounded so great.

699
00:46:39,340 –> 00:46:41,500
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m like thinking, I sounded so stupid.

700
00:46:41,500 –> 00:46:44,380
Elizabeth Clayton: Dad, what in the world just happened?

701
00:46:44,320 –> 00:46:45,520
Elizabeth Clayton: But I didn’t care.

702
00:46:45,520 –> 00:46:46,960
Elizabeth Clayton: Whatever, you know.

703
00:46:54,560 –> 00:46:56,560
Randy Black: Talk about your dad.

704
00:46:56,800 –> 00:47:01,760
Randy Black: And that’s, you know, that was a powerful thing to have you there to speak.

705
00:47:01,760 –> 00:47:06,160
Randy Black: You know, the all the rest of us who spoke, you know, we didn’t have that same

706
00:47:07,500 –> 00:47:12,220
Randy Black: same relationship with him to to talk about him in the way that you could.

707
00:47:12,220 –> 00:47:16,619
Randy Black: So it was a it was a powerful moment for you being courageous

708
00:47:17,120 –> 00:47:25,280
Randy Black: in doing it, but it was a powerful moment for all of us because we got to hear you talk about your dad and be courageous in doing so.

709
00:47:25,280 –> 00:47:28,080
Randy Black: And it had it had a huge, a huge impact.

710
00:47:28,120 –> 00:47:33,320
Elizabeth Clayton: Do you remember well, you remember me talking about the cards that I found on his desk?

711
00:47:33,320 –> 00:47:36,920
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, there was one when I went to Hamlin my senior year, I’m I you know

712
00:47:37,140 –> 00:47:45,460
Elizabeth Clayton: Talking about I must I I you might remember this, but I guess I um I’m just gonna talk about it briefly, but I guess I didn’t

713
00:47:45,559 –> 00:47:45,960
Elizabeth Clayton: Come.

714
00:47:45,960 –> 00:47:47,799
Elizabeth Clayton: I was always scared to upset my dad.

715
00:47:47,799 –> 00:47:49,640
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, I never wanted to upset him.

716
00:47:49,640 –> 00:47:52,680
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, very rarely did he ever really get upset at me.

717
00:47:52,680 –> 00:47:55,319
Elizabeth Clayton: Um and he never yelled at me.

718
00:47:55,319 –> 00:47:58,680
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, he would always just be very point-blank if I upset him.

719
00:47:58,340 –> 00:48:01,540
Elizabeth Clayton: um and you know, just tell me what I needed to hear.

720
00:48:01,540 –> 00:48:08,100
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, I uh this this card that I found, I gave it to him for his birth and I ru I’ve never written such a long card to him in my life.

721
00:48:08,100 –> 00:48:11,540
Elizabeth Clayton: And I kind of talked a little bit about what was written in there, but

722
00:48:11,920 –> 00:48:14,560
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, I guess I didn’t come home on his birthday.

723
00:48:14,560 –> 00:48:16,080
Elizabeth Clayton: I wanted to stay in Hamlin.

724
00:48:16,080 –> 00:48:18,000
Elizabeth Clayton: And anyway, I guess I upset him.

725
00:48:18,000 –> 00:48:21,040
Elizabeth Clayton: So I wrote in there, I was encouraging my dad.

726
00:48:21,040 –> 00:48:26,560
Elizabeth Clayton: In this in this um this this this card, I was like, Dad, you’re the reason why I’m here.

727
00:48:26,320 –> 00:48:32,880
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, if it wasn’t for you, I w I I I wouldn’t have made this decision and I’m so sorry, but I’ll come spend time with you.

728
00:48:32,880 –> 00:48:36,960
Elizabeth Clayton: And I even wrote quotes in there, like b you know, building him up.

729
00:48:37,760 –> 00:48:45,760
Elizabeth Clayton: I’m like doing what he did to me all the time and I look at that card sometimes and I’m thinking, Wow, that’s amazing

730
00:48:45,400 –> 00:48:47,319
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, he wasn’t probably really mad at me.

731
00:48:47,319 –> 00:48:53,880
Elizabeth Clayton: He, you know, at the end of the day, but I, man, it’s whatever happened, like I felt I needed to write all this down.

732
00:48:53,880 –> 00:48:55,400
Elizabeth Clayton: And he kept that.

733
00:48:55,400 –> 00:48:58,520
Elizabeth Clayton: And looking back on that, it just makes me laugh so much.

734
00:48:59,859 –> 00:49:02,339
Elizabeth Clayton: I was probably scared of what my dad was gonna, you know.

735
00:49:02,339 –> 00:49:04,260
Elizabeth Clayton: I had to I had to explain it all, you know.

736
00:49:04,579 –> 00:49:06,900
Elizabeth Clayton: I had to tell him how I truly felt.

737
00:49:06,900 –> 00:49:10,579
Elizabeth Clayton: And that took a lot of courage for me to do that because we were not

738
00:49:10,760 –> 00:49:13,400
Elizabeth Clayton: lovey dovey, you know, write all the words down.

739
00:49:13,400 –> 00:49:23,800
Elizabeth Clayton: And and um one of the things that my dad did that I’ve I’ve never talked about um a few years ago I was home visiting and

740
00:49:23,960 –> 00:49:30,760
Elizabeth Clayton: I had gone somewhere and I’d come back and I went to my bedroom and there was this blanket laid out on my bed.

741
00:49:30,760 –> 00:49:33,800
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, it said on the blanket to my daughter.

742
00:49:33,700 –> 00:49:38,820
Elizabeth Clayton: And had all these things that you want to tell your daughter how you feel about her.

743
00:49:38,820 –> 00:49:43,460
Elizabeth Clayton: And I remember standing there looking at it like, my dad got this for me.

744
00:49:43,440 –> 00:49:48,000
Elizabeth Clayton: It I just stood there and I think I cried and then he came in at one point and he goes, Did you like the blanket?

745
00:49:48,000 –> 00:49:50,160
Elizabeth Clayton: I said, Well yeah, that’s the coolest thing.

746
00:49:50,160 –> 00:49:51,839
Elizabeth Clayton: One of the coolest things you’ve ever gotten me.

747
00:49:51,839 –> 00:49:54,560
Elizabeth Clayton: And so of course I have that at home, my apartment.

748
00:49:54,560 –> 00:49:57,520
Elizabeth Clayton: And um the other night I got it out and

749
00:49:57,500 –> 00:50:04,860
Elizabeth Clayton: Every time I look at it, it just takes me back to that moment, you know, um, or he, you know, got that for me.

750
00:50:04,860 –> 00:50:09,740
Elizabeth Clayton: And when I told you before, I’m like, he never really gave me a card or anything like that

751
00:50:09,580 –> 00:50:18,380
Elizabeth Clayton: and wrote anything down or voiced a whole lot, but you know, there’s certain things he did and uh they mean more than anything else, you know?

752
00:50:18,380 –> 00:50:19,020
Elizabeth Clayton: Right.

753
00:50:19,020 –> 00:50:22,220
Elizabeth Clayton: Um but um anyway.

754
00:50:22,220 –> 00:50:23,100
Randy Black: Yeah.

755
00:50:23,100 –> 00:50:23,420
Randy Black: So

756
00:50:24,380 –> 00:50:37,020
Randy Black: Now that we’ve we’ve we’ve explored this idea that of how courage is is revealed and what it can teach us, the next step is actually trying to live it day-to-day.

757
00:50:37,460 –> 00:50:43,700
Randy Black: Courage isn’t just for the defining moments, and we discussed that briefly earlier.

758
00:50:43,700 –> 00:50:51,700
Randy Black: It’s in the small decisions, those everyday choices that shape us, that shape who we are.

759
00:50:51,660 –> 00:50:57,020
Randy Black: So let’s talk about that and let’s bring courage into focus into our daily lives.

760
00:50:57,020 –> 00:51:00,700
Randy Black: And the first thing you have to know is every day courage shows up.

761
00:51:00,660 –> 00:51:02,580
Randy Black: in the ordinary choices we make.

762
00:51:02,580 –> 00:51:05,060
Randy Black: And we we did, we touched on that earlier.

763
00:51:05,060 –> 00:51:11,860
Randy Black: But courage can be harder to realize

764
00:51:12,660 –> 00:51:19,620
Randy Black: Um when it’s those everyday choices versus those dramatic high-stakes moments.

765
00:51:19,620 –> 00:51:25,380
Randy Black: I mean, you think about it, you don’t realize you’ve actually done something courageous because it’s just a small, simple thing

766
00:51:25,460 –> 00:51:27,700
Randy Black: that you’ve done in your daily life.

767
00:51:27,700 –> 00:51:36,420
Randy Black: It goes back to what we just talked about a minute ago with the habits, consistent small acts of courage taking place in your life daily

768
00:51:36,920 –> 00:51:39,160
Randy Black: They build character.

769
00:51:39,160 –> 00:51:41,160
Randy Black: They build resilience.

770
00:51:41,160 –> 00:51:48,920
Randy Black: And over time, they build you up further to make sure you’re ready to handle those bigger situations when they come.

771
00:51:48,920 –> 00:51:51,400
Randy Black: We’ve talked about it already.

772
00:51:50,859 –> 00:51:53,260
Randy Black: Those small choices add up.

773
00:51:53,260 –> 00:51:54,940
Randy Black: They shape our habits.

774
00:51:54,940 –> 00:51:56,940
Randy Black: They build our identity.

775
00:51:56,940 –> 00:52:02,859
Randy Black: They make us who we are to be prepared for what else may happen

776
00:52:03,740 –> 00:52:14,860
Randy Black: But why is it, you think, Liz, that we we tend to overlook the courage in our everyday lives versus those big dramatic moments?

777
00:52:15,380 –> 00:52:18,020
Randy Black: You think it’s just human nature that we just don’t see it?

778
00:52:18,020 –> 00:52:18,579
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

779
00:52:18,579 –> 00:52:18,900
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

780
00:52:18,900 –> 00:52:20,500
Elizabeth Clayton: I mean that’s just who we are.

781
00:52:20,500 –> 00:52:23,299
Elizabeth Clayton: I mean, s just the minuscule moments in our life.

782
00:52:23,299 –> 00:52:28,980
Elizabeth Clayton: Um and that’s one of the things I’m trying to pay more attention to, especially since my dad passed.

783
00:52:28,980 –> 00:52:29,299
Elizabeth Clayton: Um

784
00:52:30,080 –> 00:52:34,240
Elizabeth Clayton: is waking up every day and not taking anything for granted.

785
00:52:34,720 –> 00:52:41,200
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, um I feel like today, this is the only we’re this is the what is today?

786
00:52:41,200 –> 00:52:44,560
Elizabeth Clayton: The um January the the eighteenth.

787
00:52:44,440 –> 00:52:46,280
Elizabeth Clayton: We’re never gonna relive this day.

788
00:52:46,280 –> 00:52:46,920
Randy Black: Nope.

789
00:52:46,920 –> 00:52:49,960
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, and we have to get up with purpose every day.

790
00:52:49,960 –> 00:52:52,440
Elizabeth Clayton: And it that’s one thing I I learned from my dad.

791
00:52:52,440 –> 00:52:58,280
Elizabeth Clayton: And you know, not every day was perfect, but at the end of the day, one of the things that I’m realizing lately is

792
00:52:58,820 –> 00:53:06,980
Elizabeth Clayton: you know, um, just uh not out tr you know, just just not let letting life pass me by

793
00:53:07,420 –> 00:53:11,500
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, in especially all of the little small things that I do daily.

794
00:53:11,500 –> 00:53:12,780
Elizabeth Clayton: And I’m trying to share.

795
00:53:12,780 –> 00:53:18,540
Elizabeth Clayton: Uh it’s taken it it’s taken a lot of courage for me to put myself out there and share

796
00:53:18,460 –> 00:53:21,260
Elizabeth Clayton: some of the little daily things that I I do.

797
00:53:22,060 –> 00:53:25,740
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, one of the things that that’s giving me um

798
00:53:26,720 –> 00:53:31,119
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, the confidence to keep going is all the comments that I’m getting from so many people.

799
00:53:31,119 –> 00:53:33,839
Elizabeth Clayton: And I feel like it might be helping people at the same time.

800
00:53:34,400 –> 00:53:37,680
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, and um at the end of the day

801
00:53:38,160 –> 00:53:41,040
Elizabeth Clayton: Just when you think you can’t do something, you can.

802
00:53:41,040 –> 00:53:42,160
Randy Black: Yeah.

803
00:53:42,160 –> 00:53:44,000
Elizabeth Clayton: And it’s not easy.

804
00:53:44,000 –> 00:53:48,240
Elizabeth Clayton: There’s a lot to learn out there, especially in the technology world.

805
00:53:48,240 –> 00:53:50,160
Elizabeth Clayton: As we talked about.

806
00:53:50,160 –> 00:53:50,960
Elizabeth Clayton: But um

807
00:53:51,720 –> 00:53:58,599
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, we all have those little moments where, you know, the there like I said

808
00:53:59,160 –> 00:54:00,920
Elizabeth Clayton: We I’ve started journaling.

809
00:54:00,920 –> 00:54:09,640
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, one of the things we we can do daily is is write down things that that we do and you know reflect back on those things.

810
00:54:09,640 –> 00:54:10,600
Elizabeth Clayton: And um

811
00:54:11,620 –> 00:54:22,740
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, you can take pictures too and videos to to reflect and look back on the the the in sometimes you realize those little moments, they’re actually big moments in your life.

812
00:54:23,320 –> 00:54:27,080
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, they all kind of work together to create those big moments.

813
00:54:27,080 –> 00:54:31,320
Elizabeth Clayton: And um uh it’s um

814
00:54:32,140 –> 00:54:37,180
Elizabeth Clayton: Like I said, every day is a is a is a learning experience, to say the least.

815
00:54:40,619 –> 00:54:42,460
Randy Black: Courage is

816
00:54:43,799 –> 00:54:50,920
Randy Black: It’s one of those things that you you you don’t realize ultimately what the outcome’s gonna be.

817
00:54:50,920 –> 00:54:54,920
Randy Black: Fear is such a barrier.

818
00:54:55,020 –> 00:54:59,020
Randy Black: to taking action that would be centered considered courageous.

819
00:54:59,020 –> 00:55:02,940
Randy Black: Courage oftentimes requires you to act

820
00:55:03,380 –> 00:55:06,339
Randy Black: before certainty exists.

821
00:55:06,339 –> 00:55:11,380
Randy Black: So you have to accept the outcomes can’t be fully under your control.

822
00:55:11,720 –> 00:55:13,640
Randy Black: You have to just let things happen.

823
00:55:13,640 –> 00:55:14,599
Randy Black: You took the risk.

824
00:55:14,599 –> 00:55:17,000
Randy Black: You stuck yourself out there.

825
00:55:17,000 –> 00:55:21,720
Randy Black: But did it turn out for the positive or did it come back to haunt you?

826
00:55:21,720 –> 00:55:24,039
Randy Black: Sometimes that’s what happens.

827
00:55:24,120 –> 00:55:26,040
Randy Black: And it’s it’s tough, you know.

828
00:55:26,040 –> 00:55:38,680
Randy Black: You have to you have to find ways to focus or or or find strategies that you move forward with despite the uncertainty.

829
00:55:37,820 –> 00:55:42,620
Randy Black: For example, focusing on your values.

830
00:55:42,620 –> 00:55:45,180
Randy Black: Your values will far outweigh

831
00:55:46,260 –> 00:55:48,820
Randy Black: in the other things in those decisions.

832
00:55:48,820 –> 00:55:51,140
Randy Black: You know this is the right thing to do.

833
00:55:51,140 –> 00:55:56,420
Randy Black: Whether it turns out positive for you or not, you know you did the right thing.

834
00:55:56,420 –> 00:55:58,500
Randy Black: Sometimes that has to happen

835
00:55:59,260 –> 00:56:02,460
Randy Black: You have to sometimes trust your preparation.

836
00:56:02,460 –> 00:56:08,700
Randy Black: Has everything else I’ve done in my life leading up to this made me ready to take this step?

837
00:56:08,740 –> 00:56:09,300
Elizabeth Clayton: Mm-hmm.

838
00:56:09,300 –> 00:56:12,180
Randy Black: And you take the step because it has.

839
00:56:12,260 –> 00:56:19,940
Randy Black: And then third, it’s the idea that you you break down these actions you’re going to take into steps.

840
00:56:20,420 –> 00:56:23,460
Randy Black: So you move the process forward.

841
00:56:23,460 –> 00:56:31,940
Randy Black: And it gives you the chance then, with that uncertainty, that you can shift and you can make the change.

842
00:56:31,940 –> 00:56:33,300
Randy Black: You can be adaptive

843
00:56:33,720 –> 00:56:35,559
Randy Black: With what happens.

844
00:56:35,559 –> 00:56:39,160
Randy Black: You have to accept uncertainty.

845
00:56:39,160 –> 00:56:48,359
Randy Black: Uncertainty takes courage and reframes it and takes it as.

846
00:56:48,160 –> 00:56:55,120
Randy Black: A commitment to those things rather than doing what’s comfortable.

847
00:56:55,120 –> 00:57:00,480
Randy Black: Because sometimes what’s comfortable isn’t always the right way forward

848
00:57:01,260 –> 00:57:07,260
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, you know it’s interesting because, you know, you think everybody has their lives all together.

849
00:57:07,260 –> 00:57:08,300
Elizabeth Clayton: They really don’t.

850
00:57:08,300 –> 00:57:09,020
Elizabeth Clayton: Nobody does.

851
00:57:09,359 –> 00:57:10,240
Elizabeth Clayton: Nobody does.

852
00:57:10,240 –> 00:57:19,280
Elizabeth Clayton: We you know, everyone there’s always somebody who’s gonna have more money than you, regardless, or you’re gonna think they they got the bigger house, the the beautiful car, the whatever they got.

853
00:57:19,280 –> 00:57:22,720
Elizabeth Clayton: One of the things that I’ve realized lately is um

854
00:57:23,440 –> 00:57:27,680
Elizabeth Clayton: Just taking it one day at a time, you know, and I’m not gonna worry.

855
00:57:27,680 –> 00:57:29,440
Elizabeth Clayton: Uh I’m not gonna have a 10-year plan.

856
00:57:29,440 –> 00:57:32,480
Elizabeth Clayton: Like I’m just not gonna do, I’m gonna enjoy every day as it goes.

857
00:57:32,480 –> 00:57:35,680
Elizabeth Clayton: And you know, there are things that I can plan for and do, but

858
00:57:35,640 –> 00:57:39,319
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, uh I just I’ve never lived my life like that.

859
00:57:39,319 –> 00:57:44,680
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, and in fear of like, oh my God, if I’m not th I don’t have this by this age.

860
00:57:44,680 –> 00:57:46,119
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, I’m forty years old.

861
00:57:46,119 –> 00:57:49,960
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, at the end of the day when you’ve most people around me

862
00:57:50,260 –> 00:57:54,980
Elizabeth Clayton: They’re married with kids and they’ve got a lot of other things going on that are totally different than my life.

863
00:57:54,980 –> 00:57:59,700
Elizabeth Clayton: And it’s really fascinating to be in this position at this age because I have a whole different perspective.

864
00:58:00,040 –> 00:58:02,040
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, and I don’t worry about anything.

865
00:58:02,040 –> 00:58:03,000
Elizabeth Clayton: That’s the crazy part.

866
00:58:03,240 –> 00:58:10,200
Randy Black: You know, I’m ex- But that’s part of the key that you’re you’ve stayed grounded throughout the hard times you’ve had in your life.

867
00:58:10,280 –> 00:58:18,120
Randy Black: You’ve you’ve been able to sustain courage at times in your life when things felt heavy, when things felt overwhelming.

868
00:58:18,040 –> 00:58:27,080
Randy Black: You know, you’ve you’ve found the way to develop the tools that help you to make it through your life and stay grounded and do those things.

869
00:58:27,080 –> 00:58:28,120
Randy Black: We all do it.

870
00:58:28,120 –> 00:58:30,360
Randy Black: We just don’t always realize we do it.

871
00:58:30,440 –> 00:58:38,040
Randy Black: You know, in our lives, we develop routines, and those routines get us through the day, and it helps us to stay grounded.

872
00:58:38,040 –> 00:58:42,200
Randy Black: We have points of reflection where we have to think about things.

873
00:58:42,240 –> 00:58:45,440
Randy Black: We have to st uh to look back and go, maybe this was a bad decision.

874
00:58:45,680 –> 00:58:46,960
Randy Black: Maybe this was a good decision.

875
00:58:46,960 –> 00:58:48,800
Randy Black: You know, did I do the right thing?

876
00:58:48,800 –> 00:58:50,480
Randy Black: You know, that helps us.

877
00:58:50,340 –> 00:58:51,460
Randy Black: You have to be mindful.

878
00:58:51,460 –> 00:58:53,780
Randy Black: You have to have mindfulness of what’s going on.

879
00:58:53,780 –> 00:58:59,300
Randy Black: If you don’t stop and and and look at things and and take in the bigger picture

880
00:58:59,820 –> 00:59:03,100
Randy Black: Sometimes you’re you’re just going to run into the wall.

881
00:59:03,100 –> 00:59:07,660
Randy Black: And even some of the physical practices we do in life.

882
00:59:08,000 –> 00:59:11,760
Randy Black: You know, I know you go and work out multiple times a week.

883
00:59:12,160 –> 00:59:12,720
Randy Black: Me?

884
00:59:12,880 –> 00:59:14,560
Randy Black: Doesn’t happen.

885
00:59:14,560 –> 00:59:15,840
Randy Black: And I need to

886
00:59:16,220 –> 00:59:22,059
Randy Black: But that’s something I can look at and try to work on to help me stay grounded.

887
00:59:22,059 –> 00:59:29,260
Randy Black: My brother, my brother has lost 75 pounds or so, maybe a little more, in seven months.

888
00:59:28,980 –> 00:59:29,299
Elizabeth Clayton: Wow.

889
00:59:29,299 –> 00:59:32,579
Randy Black: And it’s because he stayed committed to the process.

890
00:59:32,579 –> 00:59:40,180
Randy Black: He had it was not a person who would go and work out, not something he would do, but he knew he needed to make a change.

891
00:59:40,140 –> 00:59:41,260
Randy Black: And he did.

892
00:59:41,260 –> 00:59:47,660
Randy Black: And he’s he’s took the courage to go out there and in public do workouts.

893
00:59:47,660 –> 00:59:49,339
Randy Black: He goes to Planet Fitness.

894
00:59:49,320 –> 00:59:54,600
Randy Black: And not an experienced guy doing it, but he’s done it and he’s been unbelievably successful.

895
00:59:54,600 –> 00:59:55,800
Randy Black: And I’m proud of him.

896
00:59:55,800 –> 01:00:02,040
Randy Black: I’m so happy that he’s he’s getting it together and and improving his health through what he’s doing.

897
01:00:02,040 –> 01:00:03,960
Randy Black: You know.

898
01:00:03,140 –> 01:00:16,740
Randy Black: The other thing we have to look at is with courage, we have to have relationships and support systems that hold us up and help us to maintain that courage in our lives.

899
01:00:17,180 –> 01:00:20,380
Randy Black: You know, my wife is my biggest supporter.

900
01:00:20,380 –> 01:00:24,940
Randy Black: And she she tells me all the time about, oh, you got this, you nailed it, you got it.

901
01:00:24,940 –> 01:00:30,700
Randy Black: Like even something as simple as the rings get closed on the activity meter on my Apple Watch.

902
01:00:30,720 –> 01:00:35,200
Randy Black: She immediately sends me a message when she sees it because my dad has shared with her.

903
01:00:35,200 –> 01:00:37,520
Randy Black: And she’s always, you know, it’s always like, oh, good job.

904
01:00:37,520 –> 01:00:38,000
Randy Black: You’ve done this.

905
01:00:38,240 –> 01:00:39,039
Randy Black: This is great.

906
01:00:39,039 –> 01:00:41,599
Randy Black: You know, just little, little things like that.

907
01:00:42,460 –> 01:00:46,220
Randy Black: That that’s that’s those relationships, those support systems.

908
01:00:46,220 –> 01:00:54,620
Randy Black: You know, my mom, you know, I’m 45 years old, just turned 45, and my mom still checks on me as if I was her little boy

909
01:00:54,920 –> 01:00:56,200
Randy Black: at home.

910
01:00:56,200 –> 01:01:00,200
Randy Black: And when she heard I was sick the other day, she means like, Are you okay?

911
01:01:00,200 –> 01:01:01,080
Randy Black: Do you need anything?

912
01:01:01,080 –> 01:01:01,880
Randy Black: Mom, I’m okay.

913
01:01:01,880 –> 01:01:03,240
Randy Black: I’m forty five years old.

914
01:01:03,240 –> 01:01:04,680
Randy Black: I’ll I’ll be okay.

915
01:01:04,680 –> 01:01:05,640
Randy Black: I have a wife.

916
01:01:05,640 –> 01:01:07,240
Randy Black: She’ll help take care of me if I need it.

917
01:01:07,240 –> 01:01:09,560
Randy Black: She’s like, okay, I’m just making sure you’re okay.

918
01:01:09,359 –> 01:01:10,640
Randy Black: You know, just stuff like that.

919
01:01:10,640 –> 01:01:15,680
Randy Black: But those support systems, those relationships are so important.

920
01:01:15,680 –> 01:01:19,040
Randy Black: You know, the people around us, the community we have.

921
01:01:19,220 –> 01:01:29,220
Randy Black: The values that we share with that community, those personal beliefs we have with them, it all reinforces courageous action that is consistent

922
01:01:29,620 –> 01:01:37,140
Randy Black: And it helps us to actively build up these networks and these habits so that we can sustain that courage over time.

923
01:01:37,140 –> 01:01:38,980
Randy Black: And that’s powerful.

924
01:01:38,980 –> 01:01:39,940
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

925
01:01:40,480 –> 01:01:41,920
Elizabeth Clayton: It really is.

926
01:01:41,920 –> 01:01:45,840
Elizabeth Clayton: Um oh my gosh.

927
01:01:45,840 –> 01:01:48,880
Elizabeth Clayton: Uh yeah, I’ll tell ya.

928
01:01:48,880 –> 01:01:49,200
Elizabeth Clayton: Um

929
01:01:50,099 –> 01:02:01,700
Elizabeth Clayton: moving to uh Louisville and not knowing anybody, it’s definitely taught me a lot in uh having you know, building relationships with people and um, you know, just uh

930
01:02:02,320 –> 01:02:05,040
Elizabeth Clayton: Friends are family, you know, here for me.

931
01:02:05,040 –> 01:02:07,040
Elizabeth Clayton: And I have so many great people in my life.

932
01:02:07,040 –> 01:02:13,520
Elizabeth Clayton: And one of the things recently, you know, my other job, I still work for Dillard’s part-time and um

933
01:02:13,880 –> 01:02:22,680
Elizabeth Clayton: Some of the ladies that I work with, you know, when I come in, some of ’em one my friend the other night, she goes, You’re such a bright light every time you come in here and I’m like, You have no idea how

934
01:02:23,240 –> 01:02:34,840
Elizabeth Clayton: Yet that you say that to me, you know, because here I am, you know, trying to spread positivity and you know, um so many people there have they there’s they’re listening to the podcast, they’re seeing my messages

935
01:02:34,760 –> 01:02:39,960
Elizabeth Clayton: They they see, you know, my dad’s stuff and they just have so many nice things to say.

936
01:02:39,960 –> 01:02:44,520
Elizabeth Clayton: And every time I walk in there, it’s just like somebody always comes up to me and says something.

937
01:02:44,520 –> 01:02:44,840
Elizabeth Clayton: And

938
01:02:45,240 –> 01:02:49,800
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, it it um they’re inspiring me on top of it.

939
01:02:50,280 –> 01:02:56,920
Elizabeth Clayton: Um, you know, it’s pretty cool uh to um know that people are listening to us and um

940
01:02:57,900 –> 01:03:02,700
Elizabeth Clayton: you know, uh listening to our messages and what we have to say.

941
01:03:02,700 –> 01:03:03,260
Elizabeth Clayton: Yeah.

942
01:03:03,260 –> 01:03:09,980
Randy Black: So one last point I want to make before we move to forward with with closing up the topic today, and it’s the idea that

943
01:03:10,839 –> 01:03:19,079
Randy Black: Courage is rarely ever about solitary, being solitary, being by yourself

944
01:03:19,140 –> 01:03:24,660
Randy Black: Your courage has to be strengthened and has to be sustained by having those connections.

945
01:03:24,660 –> 01:03:27,140
Randy Black: You just gave a perfect example of that.

946
01:03:27,140 –> 01:03:30,819
Randy Black: Led right into my last point I had on my notes here, Liz.

947
01:03:30,819 –> 01:03:32,020
Randy Black: So, Liz.

948
01:03:32,160 –> 01:03:38,000
Randy Black: Let’s go ahead and let’s head toward the end here and let’s close it up before we head to our wisdom of the week.

949
01:03:38,000 –> 01:03:39,360
Elizabeth Clayton: Okie dokie.

950
01:03:39,360 –> 01:03:42,240
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, um we’ve covered a lot today.

951
01:03:42,059 –> 01:03:49,260
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, facing hard moments, learning from experiences, and finding courage in our daily choices.

952
01:03:49,260 –> 01:03:54,940
Elizabeth Clayton: Let’s take a moment to pull it all together and reflect on what courage really looks like in our lives

953
01:03:55,020 –> 01:04:00,140
Elizabeth Clayton: Courage isn’t something we need when life is smooth or predictable.

954
01:04:00,140 –> 01:04:05,420
Elizabeth Clayton: It’s revealed when we face uncertainty, discomfort, or real difficulty.

955
01:04:05,359 –> 01:04:07,760
Elizabeth Clayton: It’s in those moments that we are tested.

956
01:04:07,760 –> 01:04:13,359
Elizabeth Clayton: When our plans go awry, our circumstances push us beyond what we thought we could handle

957
01:04:13,260 –> 01:04:22,060
Elizabeth Clayton: These are the times when we see who we truly are and when courage moves from being an abstract idea to a tangible part of our character.

958
01:04:22,060 –> 01:04:27,020
Randy Black: Feeling fear doesn’t mean that we’re weak or we’re failing.

959
01:04:27,000 –> 01:04:32,280
Randy Black: In fact, fear is often the signal that courage is being called for.

960
01:04:32,280 –> 01:04:35,400
Randy Black: It’s natural to feel uncertain, to feel anxious, or

961
01:04:35,840 –> 01:04:41,600
Randy Black: To even be hesitant when you’re confronted with a tough decision or a challenging situation.

962
01:04:42,560 –> 01:04:45,200
Randy Black: Courage doesn’t erase fear.

963
01:04:45,520 –> 01:04:47,920
Randy Black: It exists alongside it.

964
01:04:47,920 –> 01:04:56,400
Randy Black: What matters is the choice to act despite the fear to step forward even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.

965
01:04:57,140 –> 01:05:02,980
Randy Black: Hard moments have a way of revealing strength we didn’t know we had.

966
01:05:02,980 –> 01:05:11,300
Randy Black: Sometimes we only realize how capable we are after we faced difficult situations head on.

967
01:05:11,640 –> 01:05:16,520
Randy Black: It’s not about being perfectly prepared or being confident.

968
01:05:16,520 –> 01:05:19,640
Randy Black: It’s about choosing to persevere.

969
01:05:19,640 –> 01:05:23,720
Randy Black: It’s about trusting that we can rise to the occasion

970
01:05:24,740 –> 01:05:32,660
Randy Black: These experiences show us what resilience, determination, and grit truly look like in action

971
01:05:34,460 –> 01:05:41,660
Elizabeth Clayton: One of the things I’ve realized is courage is not about having all the answers or knowing exactly how things will turn out

972
01:05:41,559 –> 01:05:49,240
Elizabeth Clayton: It’s about making a decision to move forward, to take the next right step, even when the path ahead is uncertain.

973
01:05:49,240 –> 01:05:52,279
Elizabeth Clayton: Each courageous choice, no matter how small,

974
01:05:52,720 –> 01:05:58,000
Elizabeth Clayton: Builds a foundation of strength that prepares us for the challenges yet to come.

975
01:05:58,000 –> 01:06:04,960
Elizabeth Clayton: Over time, these choices accumulate into a life defined by bravery and intentional action.

976
01:06:05,299 –> 01:06:12,740
Randy Black: And we often think of courage as something needed only for those dramatic life-changing moments.

977
01:06:12,940 –> 01:06:19,500
Randy Black: But it’s in the small everyday decisions that courage is most often practiced.

978
01:06:19,500 –> 01:06:26,540
Randy Black: Choosing honesty, standing up for what’s right, or simply doing the next hard thing, that takes courage

979
01:06:26,820 –> 01:06:35,540
Randy Black: Those consistent daily acts prepare us for the bigger challenges and shape the kind of character that it can dur.

980
01:06:35,540 –> 01:06:41,300
Randy Black: Life’s inevitable hard decisions.

981
01:06:41,300 –> 01:06:44,740
Randy Black: And now it’s time for our wisdom of the week.

982
01:06:44,740 –> 01:06:50,180
Randy Black: This is where we take an inspirational or a motivational quote and share it with our listeners to provide a wisdom.

983
01:06:50,460 –> 01:06:55,260
Randy Black: weekly dose of encouragement.

984
01:06:55,260 –> 01:06:58,700
Randy Black: So this week’s Wisdom of the Week, it’s going to come from our own

985
01:06:59,040 –> 01:07:00,560
Randy Black: Coach Jim Clayton.

986
01:07:00,560 –> 01:07:02,480
Randy Black: Tough times don’t last, tough people do.

987
01:07:02,480 –> 01:07:05,440
Randy Black: It’s often attributed to this quote is comes from Robert H.

988
01:07:05,440 –> 01:07:07,440
Randy Black: Schuler, who was a minister.

989
01:07:07,520 –> 01:07:11,440
Randy Black: But Jimmy took it and he made it his own.

990
01:07:11,440 –> 01:07:15,359
Randy Black: He lived this every day of his life.

991
01:07:15,520 –> 01:07:21,359
Randy Black: What’s so powerful about this quote is how it connects directly to courage.

992
01:07:21,359 –> 01:07:24,400
Randy Black: Life will always throw obstacles in our way.

993
01:07:24,640 –> 01:07:27,039
Randy Black: Fear and uncertainty are natural.

994
01:07:27,039 –> 01:07:29,119
Randy Black: It doesn’t mean we’re weak.

995
01:07:29,119 –> 01:07:32,240
Randy Black: Courage isn’t the absence of fear.

996
01:07:32,240 –> 01:07:35,599
Randy Black: It’s the decision to step forward anyway.

997
01:07:35,840 –> 01:07:48,320
Randy Black: Coach Clayton believed that people who endure, who grow, who make a difference, are the ones who choose courage in the moment, even when it’s uncomfortable or uncertain.

998
01:07:48,720 –> 01:07:53,839
Randy Black: Schuller taught that how we respond to adversity defines our character.

999
01:07:53,839 –> 01:07:58,799
Randy Black: He emphasized hope, perseverance, and positive action in the face of difficulty

1000
01:07:58,940 –> 01:08:02,380
Randy Black: That’s exactly what Coach Clayton lived.

1001
01:08:02,380 –> 01:08:05,579
Randy Black: Courage isn’t about waiting for fear to go away.

1002
01:08:05,579 –> 01:08:09,180
Randy Black: It’s about making the right choice, taking action.

1003
01:08:09,540 –> 01:08:13,860
Randy Black: and trusting that persistence matters more than perfection.

1004
01:08:13,860 –> 01:08:16,420
Elizabeth Clayton: Well, I saw my dad live this every day.

1005
01:08:16,819 –> 01:08:22,980
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, courage wasn’t only about big dramatic moments on the court or in coaching

1006
01:08:22,960 –> 01:08:29,679
Elizabeth Clayton: It was in the everyday decisions, the tough conversations, and the challenges that no one else saw.

1007
01:08:29,679 –> 01:08:36,159
Elizabeth Clayton: He showed that courage can be quiet but powerful, and that it’s something we can all practice

1008
01:08:36,319 –> 01:08:39,279
Elizabeth Clayton: For me, this quote isn’t just inspiration.

1009
01:08:39,279 –> 01:08:43,440
Elizabeth Clayton: It’s a reminder that I get to carry forward his example.

1010
01:08:43,440 –> 01:08:47,920
Elizabeth Clayton: Courage is something you actively choose moment by moment.

1011
01:08:47,920 –> 01:08:49,200
Randy Black: Exactly.

1012
01:08:49,140 –> 01:08:52,339
Randy Black: The takeaway for our listeners today is simple.

1013
01:08:52,339 –> 01:08:54,739
Randy Black: You don’t need to be fearless to be strong.

1014
01:08:54,739 –> 01:08:56,580
Randy Black: Courage, it’s a choice.

1015
01:08:56,580 –> 01:08:57,779
Randy Black: It’s showing up.

1016
01:08:57,779 –> 01:08:59,620
Randy Black: It’s making the right decision.

1017
01:08:59,620 –> 01:09:03,699
Randy Black: It’s taking action even when you feel uncertain.

1018
01:09:03,520 –> 01:09:07,760
Randy Black: Tough people endure because they choose courage.

1019
01:09:07,760 –> 01:09:12,320
Randy Black: And that’s what makes this week’s quote remind us to do it in our own lives.

1020
01:09:12,440 –> 01:09:16,680
Randy Black: So before we sign off today, we have a challenge for you, the listeners.

1021
01:09:16,680 –> 01:09:21,080
Randy Black: Something to put what we’ve talked about into action.

1022
01:09:21,080 –> 01:09:25,720
Randy Black: This week, we want you to take one brave step.

1023
01:09:26,119 –> 01:09:32,679
Randy Black: Think about a situation in your life that feels uncomfortable, feels scary, or feels uncertain.

1024
01:09:32,679 –> 01:09:36,119
Randy Black: And take one action toward it.

1025
01:09:36,119 –> 01:09:38,679
Randy Black: It doesn’t have to be huge.

1026
01:09:38,679 –> 01:09:42,599
Randy Black: It just has to be a single step forward.

1027
01:09:42,599 –> 01:09:49,159
Elizabeth Clayton: You know, maybe it’s having a conversation you’ve been avoiding, starting a project you’ve been putting off.

1028
01:09:48,760 –> 01:09:51,000
Elizabeth Clayton: or standing up for something you believe in.

1029
01:09:51,000 –> 01:09:53,480
Elizabeth Clayton: Whatever it is, take that step.

1030
01:09:53,480 –> 01:09:57,560
Elizabeth Clayton: Courage is a choice, and today is the perfect time to practice it.

1031
01:09:57,560 –> 01:09:59,960
Randy Black: And we’d love to hear all about it.

1032
01:09:59,840 –> 01:10:05,920
Randy Black: Share your brave step with us via a voicemail or a message on the contact page on our website.

1033
01:10:05,920 –> 01:10:08,080
Randy Black: That’s at shooting itstraightpodcast.

1034
01:10:08,080 –> 01:10:09,760
Randy Black: com slash contact.

1035
01:10:09,460 –> 01:10:14,179
Randy Black: or leave a comment on the post for this episode at shooting itstraightpodcast.

1036
01:10:14,179 –> 01:10:16,420
Randy Black: com slash zero one nine.

1037
01:10:16,420 –> 01:10:21,300
Randy Black: Hearing your stories of courage inspires others to take their own steps forward.

1038
01:10:21,240 –> 01:10:24,520
Randy Black: Remember, courage isn’t about being fearless.

1039
01:10:24,520 –> 01:10:27,560
Randy Black: It’s about showing up even when you’re afraid.

1040
01:10:27,560 –> 01:10:29,480
Randy Black: And while you’re stepping forward.

1041
01:10:29,200 –> 01:10:36,400
Randy Black: Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast and the app of your choice so each episode hits your feed as it’s released.

1042
01:10:36,400 –> 01:10:42,880
Randy Black: You can find links to follow the show by heading over to shooting it straight podcast dot com slash follow

1043
01:10:43,219 –> 01:10:47,940
Randy Black: We’d also love your support in the continuing mission of this podcast.

1044
01:10:47,940 –> 01:10:53,940
Randy Black: And there are several levels of support available through Supercast, each with its own set of rewards.

1045
01:10:54,140 –> 01:10:56,860
Randy Black: So head over to shootingitstraight podcast.

1046
01:10:56,860 –> 01:11:00,380
Randy Black: com slash support to check them out and join today.

1047
01:11:00,380 –> 01:11:08,780
Randy Black: And through February 28th, 2026, you can sign up to support us and get a 50% discount for the entirety of your first year.

1048
01:11:09,219 –> 01:11:10,980
Randy Black: Thank you for listening.

1049
01:11:10,980 –> 01:11:18,340
Randy Black: We can’t wait to see you take the brave steps this week and beyond as we step into the next year together doing what we do best.

1050
01:11:18,340 –> 01:11:20,340
Elizabeth Clayton: Shooting it straight.

1051
01:11:20,340 –> 01:11:21,620
Elizabeth Clayton: Bam, son