Courage: It’s True What They Say. Courage Doesn’t Always Roar. Instead It Often Tags Along With Fear, As The Unwelcome Guest
Refuse to let fear get in the way. Grab it by the throat and crush it fearlessly into submission. Now embrace your courage …
The hard fact is, LIFE itself, takes courage.
When you are young and have dreams as long as the historical Ben Hur, the world is your proverbial oyster.
You are invincible, or so it seems. But that is not reality. Sure, good things happen, life is fun, and that fun can go on for a long time.
But things change
Events trip you up and make you question life itself, especially when that something is monumentally challenging.
Bad things happen in our lives, and fear is often the emotion that immobilizes us, and stymies us in our ability to accept what is done, and move along a different path.
Yet moving on is now a must.
It’s a different journey, a different route.
The views from the window will have changed.
They most certainly will not be the views you had imagined so beautifully, the ones that you were certain would take your breath away and wrap you in their delight.
And now?
You may just have to settle for less.
Your surrounds will be laced with weeds and other plants you had never intended.
Your travels may be curtailed.
That large home you had loved so much, was just bricks and mortar.
You must now make a new, much smaller home.
But that is life. It was never going to be perfect.
Not for anyone, though sometimes we think so.
Yet, sad and wary as you are today, what is ahead could turn out to be perfect in so many ways.
Imagine that…imagine, and take heart.
Accept what has happened to you, and remember, you are still a beautiful soul, on life’s journey.
A journey, let me remind you, can only be a journey if there are surprises along the way.
Otherwise it is little more than a road, a straight and determinable, uneventful boring road.
So brush that view aside.
Open your heart. Accept what is ahead of you, and allow surprises to eventuate, as they surely will.
Life goes on.
And those you thought might judge are left behind, too busy to even care.
They have their own life to deal with.
They’re busy working it out, just as you are.
Yes, life goes on…
The poem below is a reflection of one of my life challenges. The train is an analogy for the crisis I had to deal with.
Believe me. It wasn’t easy.
But in the journey I learned so much about myself.
All She Needed Was Courage
Courage? She had none.
Yet one thing was certain. The train was coming.
She could see it in the distance, distant, but heading in her direction.
Eventually she would have to act…eventually.
If only she could work out its velocity.
How much time did she really have?
What effect would it have on her, if she couldn’t sidestep it?
Yet act she must.
In the interim she would follow another route, a quieter, comforting route.
Affording her some breathing space before she had to face the inevitable.
And take the leap of faith.
Courage was all it would take.
And then one day it happened.
The train did catch up,
Its force pushing her into making the decision.
The one she had been side-stepping.
And in that last moment, when all felt lost,
She jumped.
And landed.
Safely.
And she knew in that moment.
She was home.
This was where she was meant to be.
A small shiver of excitement held her in the moment.
Her heart could henceforth be right here.
All it took was a little leap of faith.
All…
Below are some of my the quotes I draw strength from when I need courage
- “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.”
- “How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.”
- “Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.”
- “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
- “Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”
- “There’s only one requirement of any of us, and that is to be courageous. Because courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior.”
- “All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.”
- “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
- “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”
- “The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.”
As you might imagine, the last one is my favorite. We see many dead fish on our life’s journey.
Your job is not to be one of them. :)
