“Indecision is a virus that will destroy an army’s will to win, or even survive,” said Henry Fonda’s character in “In Harm’s Way.” John Wayne’s character was tasked with turning things around. Only way was forward. Sometimes choices can cloud things. The movie is filled with set backs or not enough of anything to get the job done, but the job had to get done. In life for yourself or your organization, often the best choice is to move forward with courage.

Charge

There are numerous stories of gallantry in the battle of Gettysburg. Colonel Chamberlain’s charge down Little Round Top was one of those stories. Nearly out of ammunition and facing another onslaught of Confederate troops, the only choice was to move forward in order to protect the unions flank. Nearly out of options, forward was the way to go.

One more thing

Listening to a lecture by General Hal Moore about his famous battle pictured in “We Were Soldiers,” he made the statement there is always one more thing you can do. Also left with little options, forward was the only way to go to save his men. Movies of course add drama, but living such things the drama is there. Courage is a choice, forward the way to go.

Busy at rock bottom

Interviewing a businessman about turning companies around, a statement was made that surprised me. “Being at rock bottom is the easiest place to be, because you can go for it. You’re already at the point of failure, so you might as well go for success.” Hard times are called such for a reason, but often they limit your decisions to one: forward.

Go fish

Peter and his friends were out fishing. Nothing in the nets. Some punk on the shore starts rubbing it in and tells them to cast their nets on the other side. Peter and the others realized the person yelling wasn’t some punk, it was the risen Jesus. Bringing some fish, Jesus cooks breakfast and holds a conversation with Peter. Peter was going back to the wrong kind of fishing. He preaches the first sermon of the church, and he is part of launching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Even after failure, forward is the option to take.

Fish vomit

Jonah likely didn’t smell great being spat up on land after being swallowed up in a fish. Apparently running from God can give fish indigestion. A whole nation repents and turns to God because of his work. Still, he had a pity party. Only option was forward, but he held onto his bitterness. Forward and good attitudes do not always go together.

Easy

We choose our attitudes. We choose to move forward. Sure, there are other options, but really forward is often our only one. We can move forward with a good attitude or a bad one, but forward we must. There is no guarantee of tomorrow, but there is a guarantee that choosing a bad attitude will make tomorrow harder. See, moving forward makes decisions easier because you know what you have if you quit. What you don’t know is what you will have if you win. Well, you do know you will have a cool story to share.

With all that is going on in the world today, do not be afraid of moving froward.