The word panache comes from old French. It means feather, as in the type of large feather that one would wear on a hat or early military helmet.
Legend tells us that the flamboyant sixteenth century French King Henry IV, in leading his troops said, "Ralliez-vous mon panache blanc!"
That is, "Follow my big white feather."
Despite his faults, Henry was loved and is long remembered as "Good King Henry."
He also teaches a lesson that holds true today - do what you love to do and do it with panache!
Too often we are timid in doing what we enjoy, and try not to draw attention to ourselves.
We may try to avoid standing out because we think that would be showing off, or because we are concerned about what others may say.
The problem, however, is that we often fail to show our giftedness.
If we are exceptionally good at something, why shouldn't we celebrate it? Jesus himself said, "Let your light shine!" (Mt 5:16)
Even when we are not good at things there is nothing wrong with showing panache.
I can barely play 10 chords on the guitar, and some people say that I can't sing. Who cares! I sing a very loud rendition of the 1966 Troggs hit, Wild Thing.
I know it's great and that it makes people laugh.
I have been doing this for my entire teaching career, and it is one thing that my students never forget.
In addition, when we do things with panache, our mistakes become visible and we can more easily learn from them and improve.
When we are good, we can do things even better when we show panache.
Think of the baseball player who dives for the ball or who tries to stretch a double into a triple.
We love these people. They play with panache.
What about the student who dares to stand out and risk looking foolish when she asks the teacher for clarification?
My experience is that if one person has a question, there was likely something lacking in my explanation and several other students have the same question.
Students may ask silly questions to get a chuckle from time to time, but I always follow the principle that there is no such thing as a stupid question.
If living with panache is difficult for us, we need to remember that there is tremendous benefit in stretching ourselves, in getting comfortable being uncomfortable.
When we ask ourselves, "What is the worst thing that could happen?"
The answer is likely not so bad at all.
We humans are amazing creatures with tremendous gifts.
When we celebrate our greatness with everything that we have, wonderful things happen.
We certainly benefit, and so does everyone around us.
When you are thinking of doing something, imagine having a huge feather on your hat so that everyone can see you, like King Henry did.
Do what you love with panache and be the awesome person you are.
