Learning from Giants Without Standing in Their Shadow

I came across a quote earlier today that stopped me:

“Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage.”
— Paulo Coelho

I’d never heard of him until then. I haven’t read his books. I don’t know much about his story. Yet that one line hit home.

It’s the kind of truth you feel in your chest before your brain has time to argue. Because most of the limits we think we have — money, time, talent — are smoke screens. What’s really missing, more often than not, is courage.

That quote made me pause. It made me look around at the risks I’ve taken lately, and the ones I’ve been avoiding. It reminded me that progress doesn’t come from waiting until things are perfect. It comes from moving while they’re not.

I respect voices like Coelho’s — people who say something real, something clean, in just a few words. I don’t need to know everything about him to recognize when a sentence speaks the truth.

And still — I have no desire to trade places.

I don’t want his life, or his path, or his poetry. I just want to stay honest on mine. I want to keep showing up, keep moving forward, and keep sharing what I’ve learned along the way.

That’s how we grow — by learning from others without losing ourselves.