Archive for the ‘Turn Up the Courage!’ Category
Why Courage?
September 24th, 2009
“Only when we are no longer afraid, do we begin to live”
~Dorthy Thompson
Courage allows billows of life to push past our curtains of darkness and entice us with passions unexplored. Courage untangles us from the twisted sheets of slumber and allows us to swirl on the dance floor of life. Courage allows us to say goodbye to the sorrows of yesterday and hello to the sunlit skies of today. Courage allows us to plunge heart first into our own magnificence.
Saying yes to courage transforms our life from a battlefield into a playing field. The light of courage allows us to ‘play’ into the night without fear. Courage allows us to venture into our shadow and dispel the beliefs that have held us captive. We are no longer at war with ourselves because we left our old stories back in the trenches. Life has awarded us a purple heart and stands as a reminder that our courage comes from within.
Carl Jung reminds us the most courageous thing that we can do is to accept ourselves completely. The good, the bad and the ugly because we realize the bad and the ugly are only an illusion. We so often reserve the title of courage to the heroics of a soldier, a firefighter or someone who defends and saves another. But real courage is becoming the hero of our own life and stepping into our role as a creator. As a creator we no longer allow fear to color our choices because courage is our paintbrush. The time is now. Courage is calling our name. Will we answer the call or will we put it off, once again, until tomorrow?
I have found that one person’s fear is another’s fun. My friend, Julie, loves to sing Karaoke. I on the other hand do not have a trained signing voice and the thought of intentionally singing into a microphone in front of a group of strangers has never been my idea of fun. In fact I would tremble at the thought. Why would I place myself in a situation where I could look foolish, be made fun of and possibly be laughed at? But because of my overriding desire to be the courageous creator of my life, I knew it was something I had to do. It was time for me to conquer the fear of looking foolish. Last week, mic in hand, I boldly sang These Boots Were Made For Walking. Singing karaoke took courage for me and required me to take bold action. For others karaoke doesn’t require any courage at all. Since our fears are nothing but our stories, it doesn’t help us to compare ourselves to others. We must conquer our own fears and shine our own light.
(My shining moment ~ watch out Barbara Streisand!)
One of my favorite poems is by Matthew Arnold, Self- Dependence about a sailor who is ready to give up his stories and desires an expansive existence. He cries out to the heavens and the heavens counsel him to stop looking around and pining to be someone else. The heavens explain to the weary sailor why the stars and the waters are so vast.
“Bounded by themselves, and unregardful
In what state God’s other works may be,
In their own tasks all their powers pouring,
These attain the mighty life you see.”
It is time to pour our power into our own tasks and create the mighty life we desire. It is time to stop comparing and wondering why we weren’t born with another’s beauty or intelligence. It takes courage to be boldly, fully and fabulously who we really are.
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
- Anais Nin
Courage is expansive; it broadens our horizons and opens us to the land of limitless possibilities.
One of my courageous mantras is: Oh yes I am! Oh yes I can! For instance if I hear myself saying, “I’m not a public speaker.” I recite Oh yes I am! Oh yes I can! Or I’m not radiantly confident, “Oh yes I am, Oh yes I can! I’m not a Karaoke singer…O.K. maybe I’m not, my heart is not drawn towards Karaoke but my heart is attracted to the courage it takes to sing it. And who knows one day I might really desire to fully step into my Karaoke diva.
Courage is a soul quality. The Nike commercial below about courage always gives me goose bumps because it reminds me that everything I need is already inside of me. Enjoy!
And until we meet again…Love Boldly ~ Live Boldly ~ Act Boldly
Posted in 