It’s a word I hadn’t heard much of – as it is not used much these days – until watching the movie Night at the Museum – the battle of the Smithsonian. In this movie, Amy Adams plays Amelia Earhart, and she says to character, Larry Daley, as she asks if he enjoys what he does, “You say you like what you do, but what I see in front of me is a man who has lost his moxie.” It is not a word that we hear much anymore and it is not a word we use much anymore, but it is a great word. This week I want to ask you to help me bring moxie back.
The dictionary definition of Moxie is The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage. If there was ever a time to face difficulty with spirit and courage, I would have to say now is it. Interest rates are rising, the cost of living is expanding, job security is dwindling, health is declining, and times are challenging. Unless, that is, we choose to get up, dust ourselves off, get out, and find our moxie. Add ‘spirit’ and ‘courage’ to anything you are facing, and you have a winning formula, that’s for sure.
I think we all understand the meaning of ‘courage’. In my mind, it simply means facing your fear and doing what you need to do to live your best life. The word ‘spirit’ however, can leave room for interpretation. So, I plugged the word into the Thesaurus, and here are some of the words that came up to embody ‘spirit’: soul, essence, life, life-force, attitude, strength, character, force, fortitude, determination, heart, faith, and love, just to name a few. Can you imagine how good things would be if you owned some or all of those traits. Are you ready for the good news? You already do. Moxie is part of your DNA, you may just need to pull it out, dust it off, and own it.
I had dinner this week with two amazing ladies, both who epitomise the word ‘moxie’. It was the 85th birthday of moxie-laden Brenda Richards, an incredible lady I randomly met on one of my walks a few months ago. I will talk more about her shortly. Through Brenda, I met the incredible Eva Sifis, a lady who has shown all sorts of moxie to deal with being hit by a car and sustaining a significant acquired brain injury back in 1999. That event ended one part of her life, but due to her powerful moxie, it started another part, which is still evolving and empowering others as you read this.
Brenda Richards has lived in the same home in the suburb of St Kilda, Melbourne, for more than 60 years. It took much longer than it should have for Eva, Brenda, and I to walk down the street to take Brenda out for dinner for her birthday. Why? Brenda knew every second person, and they stopped to chat and wish her a happy birthday. She is most definitely part of the fabric of this suburb, for sure. I don’t have time to get deep into her story, but she is a survivor, and has developed an amazing heart for people. A challenging beginning in life, led her to be travelling on the itinerant track in her teens from town to town, and job to job, just making enough to get by. She has now authored many books, has written a TV series for children and is just as feisty today as I am sure she was in her teens. She is the queen of moxie.
How can you add some moxie into the things you are working on, the people you are working with, and the struggles you are facing right now? Moxie is courage and spirit. Courage means, in essence, face it, deal with it and act on it, whether you want to, believe you can or not. You know what you have to do, don’t you? Spirit means do it with heart, with enthusiasm, with zest, with strength, with determination, and with all of your life-force. That, my friend, is simply a decision. Things don’t always look easy, fun, or desirable, however, you can make them meaningful with moxie. So, let’s bring moxie back.
In my podcast this week with Yana Hempler, called Run for purpose, I have the pleasure of meeting another lady full of moxie. Coming from Russia to Canada, and with a fear of running, she now runs every day, helps other people run, and she ran 30 marathons in 30 days to raise money for a great cause. She loves running now, it is something she does with great joy, overflowing enthusiasm, and endless moxie.
I have moxie, you have moxie, and we all have moxie. It may be hidden and may have been buried deep inside of you for a long time, but it’s there waiting for you to drag it out to see the light of day. This incredible world, we are blessed to live in, is not always easy, as you may be experiencing right now. However, trust me when I say, it can always be a joy, no matter what is going on, if you bring back your moxie.