Have Freakin' Conviction!

I was born and partially raised in a country that wants me dead.

I am a Jewish Iranian woman.

The latest barbaric and unprecedented attack on Israeli citizens is simply the latest chapter in the oldest hatred on this planet — the hatred of Jews.

If you believe the old, tired, and stupid argument of being against Israel and not the Jews, you can stop reading now. This article is not for you; my community is not for you.

One of the most excellent practices we can develop is simultaneously holding two opposing thoughts, beliefs, and circumstances. People who know how to do this can navigate their relationships and their lives more easily.

So yes. I can hold being both Iranian and Jewish. I can hold my political views and hear those of others with opposing views. I can love my children and the children of the mother who wants my people wiped off the face of this earth.

But there is another quality without which we are like ghosts moving between this life and another and don’t quite belong anywhere.

That quality is called Conviction.

Conviction is the ability to be so staunch about an idea that it causes me to reject anything that is not that idea.

Most of us are deathly afraid to have conviction in any area of our lives. We fear that others will think of us as radical or, worse, ignorant. We don’t want to lose “followers.”  We don’t want to offend.

So we walk on eggshells. We talk in riddles. We philosophize and sprinkle platitudes on our social media.

I’m so tired of it.

So here we go. Unfollow me if you like. I never wanted followers anyway. I want leaders in this sacred community I’m committed to.

I have absolute conviction in the Jewish people’s right to our own country. I will teach this to my children. I will devote my time, attention, and money to this mission. I will think in decades, not days.

When you breathe the coaching air, day in and day out, like I do, you can’t help but believe in change as a constant. But to have conviction is to put a stake in the ground that you are committed to keeping at all costs.

To have conviction is to decide who you are, what you’re doing, what you’re never doing, and where you’re going.

People with solid convictions make a difference in the world.

Israel and the Jewish people will survive this present holocaust. In this case, unfortunately, but nevertheless, truthfully, practice has made perfect. We have risen from the ashes so often that it’s now in our DNA.

But when we do, we will remember who stood by us and who pretended to be a ghost.

Today and now, be a stand. Do the hard thing. Lose what was not yours to begin with. Gain what you never thought you had the courage to.

Have Conviction.