Napoleon's Battle Plan

According to that great repository of all knowledge: SportsNight, Napoleon's Battle Plan was "First you show up, then you see what happens." I have decided that, whether I really wished to adopt it or not, this has become the blueprint for my day-to-day survival.

Take, for instance, college. You graduate from high school and the next logical step is college, so you apply. No matter how much research you do or how many times you visit, you can never get a complete and accurate idea of what to expect. Then one day, you move into a dormitory and start attending classes. There is no way to prepare yourself, so you just show up and see what happens. I followed this plan upon arriving for college and adhered to it for four years. I showed up at class often with little idea of what to expect and, with a little work, I completed semester after semester. Now, after eight semesters of showing up, the people in the registrar's office inform me that I'm finished. I showed up for long enough and, lo and behold, I'm graduating. I don't feel as though I have done enough work or jumped through enough hoops to be graduating from college, yet after just four years of showing up, I seem to have earned a degree.

Each job I've held has been a similar experience. I always walk into new situations unsure of whether or not I'll be capable enough to complete the necessary tasks. While I have been trained for all of them, there are always little quirks or particular circumstances that have made them at least slightly different from what I expected. I'm not sure I can do it, I don't know what I'll face, but I show up.

I have come to the conclusion that having the courage to do things and go places is really more than half the battle. Those cliche remarks professors make about attendance are actually *gasp* true. And once an individual puts for the effort to attend an event or meeting or day of work, their involvement almost always grows from there. After the first appearance, inertia keeps things going, so it's just a matter of getting there the first time.

I am approaching some stressful and frightening beginnings. I have a huge interview coming up for the UMChurch, ASP staff starts in just over a month, and in 4 months I'll be starting at another school. Anxiety is already beginning to make my stomach churn. My response? Put the plan into motion. And the first step is showing up...