The Daily Scroll: A Mentorship Recap – August 18th, 2020 Show Notes

Kay:

Hey there Questers, and welcome back, once again! It’s Tuesday, August 18 and this is Episode 162. Today’s quote is, “Those who stand for nothing fall for everything,” from the one and only – A. Ham!

Shi:

“Now, who the heck is A. Ham?!” – you might be asking yourself. Well, it stands for Alexander Hamilton and it is a friendly shortening of his own name that he uses in the play, Hamilton – which Kay and I are very obsessed with!

Kay:

If you haven’t heard our entire Mentorship Quest episode on Hamilton, we would advise you to stop the episode now and go back and listen, so we can fangirl all about the musical, but that’s not what we’re here to do today….We have this legit Alexander Hamilton quote for you today, and, actually, when we read it and realized that it was from Mr. A. Ham himself, we also realized that it is a quote that we grew up with!

Shi:

Yeah! Our mom used to say this all the time! It’s a tiny little quote, “Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.” But, there’s so much value packed in this, and obviously we’re obsessed with Hamilton, the musical, right now, but this theme comes up a lot, particularly in a character of Burr….What is his first name, Kay?

Kay:

Aaron Burr!…So…A. Burr 😉

Kay & Shi:

*(Laughter)*

Shi:

A. Burr – yes!

Kay:

Played by the one and only Leslie Odom Jr.

Shi:

He does such a good job!

Kay:

Amazing.

Shi:

He’s SO amazing. But, Burr’s character in real life, and in the play, had a very ‘wait for it’ mentality, and would oftentimes not voice an opinion or side with something until he knew it was completely safe. And, we know that things are rarely completely safe, and so he would be criticized and characterized throughout his life as someone who wouldn’t make decisions, and who wouldn’t share an opinion, which ultimately cost him a presidential election, a friendship, and so much more…

Kay:

Well, our mom used to say this a lot, I think, having been involved in the political realm for as long as she was, but, I know for me, I used to have a lot of trouble when I was younger, making solid decisions. And so, she would use this as a reminder that it’s important to make a decision, and then stick to it and follow through. It doesn’t mean that decisions can’t change, but inaction is just that….It’s NO action – which means that you can’t be moving forward and there’s no growing there!

Shi:

That’s a really good point, and I think that it’s one that a lot of us can probably relate to – that feeling of being unable to make a decision, and scared to make the wrong decision. It’s so often what happens to us – (or we start to second guess) – but, what our mom taught us, and what this quote taught us, is that not making a decision or delaying a decision is the worst decision of all! Even if you make the “wrong decision”, you can learn faster from that mistake and course correct, and ultimately get farther ahead in your life, than if you sit on the fence and you waffle…

Kay:

Sitting on the fence in the waffling state can leave you very vulnerable if someone wants to come along and yank your chain, because it means that you could literally fall for anything! Anyone could come and take you off that fence to their side, or attempt to sway you in a certain way, if you aren’t strongly rooted within your beliefs. So, it’s important to know what it is exactly that you’re looking to stand for…

Kay:

I think one of the places that we see this expressed quite often is in people wanting to make a difference in the world, but not picking an avenue from which to do so – because there are so many problems that can feel overwhelming! And so, often we find people like, “Well, I just don’t know what to do. There’s homeless people, and there’s these kids that need help, and there’s this dog initiative thing that I could do, and there’s just SO many ways, and there’s SO many people that need help that I just won’t do anything.”

Shi:

Overwhelmed!

Kay:

You totally get overwhelmed! And, at that point, you’re standing for nothing, which means that everything is falling to the wayside as far as your contribution that you COULD be giving to the world and the value that could be gained for other people from you.

Shi:

I think it’s important to say to be decisive, but to make decisions from an informed place…It doesn’t mean barrel through the fence…It just means don’t LIVE on the fence!

Kay:

Exactly.

Shi:

You want to get on that fence and see the view – see what both sides look like – and make your assessment, and then make your decision from an empowered place and from an informed place – but you also don’t want to stay there too long! You want to set your boundary, you want to be smart with the moves that you make, and make the corrections quickly when you need to. There’s definitely that balance, but it takes standing for something, because if you’re standing for something, you’re rooted, you’re on the ground, you’re able to have more perspective, and you’re not up on that fence where you can fall for everything!

Kay:

Just a reminder – this A. Ham quote is, “Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.”

Shi:

Which means it’s time for your quest! Today is a standing quest…So, stand for yourself today, and advocate for what’s best for YOU! Is it a bubble bath, or is it responding to a hard email, or maybe it’s a text to a friend, or unsubscribing to an email chain?…You know what you need to do! So, stand up for yourself today, in some way! Are you ready?

Kay & Shi:

Let’s quest!

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