Route Map showing Day 44 of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, Hartville Missouri to Eminence Missouri

Do you want to be more courageous?

Connections are one of the most important ways to grow courage. Relationships encourage us, provide us with lessons, and help build a team to count on.

Strengthen your connections today so that you can become more courageous tomorrow!

Video Transcript

Every time I see a bridge, I think about the importance of the connections that I have in my life. Connections are important for many reasons. One of the reasons that connections are so important is that they help us to have courage. If you combine connections with character and with competencies, that’s a powerful recipe for having courage.

So how exactly do our relationships help us to have courage? Here are three ideas on how they help.

1. Connections encourage us.

Being surrounded by a team of people who can cheer you on and grow your confidence can help you grow your courage.

2. Connections allow us to learn lessons from other people.

These lessons are shortcuts along the way for the difficult missions that you're working to achieve. And they save you time and pain.

3. Connections provide us a team to count on to accomplish difficult missions.

Most things that are difficult and that require our courage require more than one person. So being able to operate as a team and having neighbors that you can count on both make a big difference.

I hope you enjoy these 3 ideas on how our connections can be a critical element of being able to grow our courage.

Photo, Day 44 of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, Mandy in front of river at Alley Spring & Mill National Park

I stopped for a break at the Alley Spring and Mill National Park in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

Making memories
  • On today's route: Graff, Bendavis, Fairview, Bucyrus, Houston, Eunice, Summersville, Eminence
  • I stayed at Shady Lane Cabins. I enjoyed my stay. I also recommend camping at Arrowhead Campground. The property is riverfront and they have lots of options from cabins to tent and RV spots. Ask for Robert.
  • I enjoyed dinner at The Wet Spot Bar and Eatery. As I was enjoying my steak, a group of men at the bar invited me to join them. I met a man who was a Navy veteran and recently retired from Hollywood and the film industry. I also met Robert who owns the Arrowhead Campground (he gave me a tour). After dinner, Robert and I enjoyed some two-step to the tunes of Patsy Cline and other country classics. How fun!
  • Ozark National Scenic Riverways was the nation's first scenic riverway and the first national park area specifically set aside to protect a river system.
  • Eminence is the canoe capital of the world. I hope to go back to enjoy some time of the river. 
  • Did you know there are two wild horse herds in the midwest, near Eminence? Me neither! The herds date back to the depression in the 1930s.

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Mandy Birch is a global executive engineer and military veteran who builds teams, leaders, & multinational organizations that unlock the potential of disruptive ideas. She enjoys accelerating emerging technologies & strategic partnerships to drive multi-generational thriving for people & communities around the world.

Mandy's interests include: #innovation #leadership #technology #partnerships #quantumcomputing #career #growth #womenintech #veterans #entrepreneurship #creativity #future #foreignpolicy #democracy #geopolitics



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