Doing what scares you

I like Vanessa Gezari's Poynter centerpiece, "Casting Off the Parachute," discussing the world of the freelance foreign correspondent.

There was a time in my life, many years ago, when I thought about pitching my worldly goods into a dumpster (which, at the time, would not have taken long) and heading to some foreign country to be a freelance correspondent. Of course, at the time I had no clue -- no connections, no passport, no idea of the difference between Deutsch and Dutch. It's probably a good thing for both me and the world that I didn't.

Now that I have collected a few clues, I also have collected a family and a mortgage.

Gezari has been there/done that, and her advice is:

• Do what scares you.
• Anticipate poverty.
• Be where others aren't.
• Learn your region.
• Be generous, not competitive.
• Write a sharp pitch.
• Be generous, not competitive.
• Be determined; be patient.
• When considering danger, ask tough questions.

Wait a minute. That's advice for all of us, isn't it?