What does courage mean to you?

What does courage mean to you?

It takes courage to say No. Courage, contrary to popular belief, is not the absence of fear. Courage is the wisdom to act in spite of fear.

Don’t be afraid to say NO. We never know what we can accomplish until we dare to try. To risk takes courage and determination. Knowing what we want, having goals and not being deterred by others’ opinions gives a special force to our existence. Having courage provides our lives with momentum and we discover our capabilities.

It Takes Courage

A lot has to do with our attitude. Those who move through their lives as positive people are probably more comfortable with circumstances they encounter. They are more open and have more flexibility and calm. If most of our daily thoughts are negative they will reflect how we experience life. We can take our power back.

What does courage mean to you? Do you think of the firefighters who lost their lives in the World Trade Center towers? Do you think of the men and women serving overseas?

What about the courage to admit a mistake? Or the courage to stop someone from hurting you? Or the courage to stand up for what you believe? Or the courage to just be yourself?

Yes, all those things take courage, but all of those things also have something else in common. Do you think any one of those things can be accomplished without feeling some fear? No. There cannot be courage without fear.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment or decision that something else is more important than the fear. Courage is what you do IN SPITE of the fear, in spite of the resistance, in spite of what you want right now.

But you don’t have to show the kind of courage that it takes to get on the 6:00 news. You can show courage every day. It takes courage to go against “that’s just the way it is.”; or “what can I do about it?”, or “I’ve always been this way”; or “They won’t let me…”.

Courage is deciding not to put your current desires above your desires for the future. Courage is deciding there’s something more important.

For me, courage brings to mind the Bible story of David fighting Goliath. In order to get into the Promise Land, David had to fight his giant. Don’t you image he had something else he would have rather done that day? Fighting a giant wasn’t likely at the top of his list. But he chose not to put his current desire over his true desire. In order to get into your own personal promise land, you’ll have to have courage to stand up to your personal giants too.

• It takes courage to end an unhealthy relationship.
• It takes courage to quit an unfulfilling job.
• It takes courage to say No to someone who is using you.
• It takes courage to set up a new spending plan.
• It takes courage to say Yes to your dreams when it means putting your self-esteem out there for the whole world to see (well, that’s relative, but you know what I mean).
• It takes courage to reorganize your time so that you spend it on what is most meaningful to you.
• It takes courage to ask for what you need and want in your life.
• It takes courage to be honest.

Courage doesn’t mean that you don’t recognize the difficulty of the task. Not at all. It does mean that you are willing to do it anyway, to push yourself out of the comfort zone, to give it a try. Courage is standing up to whatever mental-emotional-physical “Giant” is in your life. Resolve to live in such a way that courage, not fear, directs your life. Resolve to determine your own worth, not let someone else decide it for you. Resolve to stop working hard to build someone else’s dreams. It’s time to find the courage to take your future into your own hands.

Start to dream again. We did it often as children. Our imaginations ran as wild as we did. It’s time to unwrap our cocoon and burst out into the sunlight. So often we are timid, afraid of what others might think about us or our choices. Let’s shed the fear like an old skin embracing the new, the adventurous. Life passes at a seemingly faster pace as we get older. Let’s promise ourselves not to waste another moment worrying about how others view us. It’s how we view ourselves that is the most important.

It’s your life…imagine the possibilities!