Courage, discretion and making a choice

Discretion is the better part of valor,” “Caution is preferrable to rash bravery,” and “ e better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life.” - All attributed to William Shakespeare e father and son were skiing together and had decided to head into a tight tree run. e son being in his late teens, and still somewhat made out of rubber, encouraged his dad, who had just turned 51 into joining him on the run. As they picked their way across the top of the run looking for the best entry point, the son without warning dropped into a powder stash and was quickly on his way down the mountain.

e dad stood there on his skis looking for his own entry point down. e longer he stood there, the more nervous he became, and the more nervous he became, the more his muscles tensed and froze. With no way back out, he remembered something he had heard in his life, “God hates a coward.” He wasn’t sure where he had heard it, but the timing was right as it was all the persuasion he needed as he pointed his tips over the ledge and took o down the mountain after his son.

Happy to report that both father and son

TAYLER SHAW Community Editor tshaw@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com were reunited safely at the bottom.

I share that story as one recently shared with me because not too long ago I happened to be playing golf with a couple of customers. One of the guys in our group kept nding himself in trouble, meaning always hitting out of the woods or over water, playing a bit of rescue golf all day. I was standing next to him as he was trying to line up a shot around a tree. He kept walking around trying to decide to just punch the ball out or go for the risky shot that called for an intentional draw around the tree. He looked over at me and said, “God hates a coward,” and swung away.

Happy to report that although his ball did not nd the green, it ended up just a few yards short. It was a magni cent shot.

We have all been faced with moments of decision on when we should choose discretion over rash bravery, and hopefully we have all decided in those most critical decision points of life that indeed discretion was the better part of valor. Making a bad decision could end up in serious injury. Making a bad decision in golf will just usually end up with several lost balls and a very bad score. But decisions when it comes to family, health, nances, careers and other key areas of life require us to use judgment and discernment before rushing into something that could cause us much greater harm than good.

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