I have been thinking about courage this week and wondering what it means to grow spiritually, emotionally, and cognitively courageous. What does it take for us to find the courage to walk forward in times of adversity? To believe that we can move through our fears and stand firm in our integrity?
Humans are filled with so many fears. We fear missing out on an adventure, yet we also fear joining in. We fear being wrong or being ostracized by our friends and neighbors for our differing beliefs. We fear the penalty for standing up for ourselves. It becomes easier to agree and slide away from our convictions than to challenge authority.
What does it take to find our courage? More than once, I have stood up to a bully, disregarding their bluster. I have risked my career and my safety to stand up and protect a friend. But if I had known the personal cost in advance, would I have had the courage to follow through with my actions? Do we have to be naïve to be brave?
Courage has shown up when I least expected it. I am often surprised at my actions, wondering how I was filled with graceful power when I needed it. How I knew that there were choices I had to make, actions there were mine to do. And there are times, just like everyone else, that courage deserts me, and I wonder if I have succumbed to the apathy brought on by bad-news-saturation.
And what can I do about events happening around the planet? Yes, I can give money and re-post information, but I have no sense that my small actions are more than a tiny ripple in a stormy sea. And yet, often it is the smallest of choices, the quietest of voices that act like butterfly wings to shift any chaotic pattern.
I hope I can continue to find the courage to stand for what I believe in, especially when much of the world disagrees with me. I want to embrace the courage to ask questions and to listen before I speak, and to discover the courage to admit when I have been wrong. To step beyond downward spirals, embrace the courage to choose a new, and potentially challenging path upward. Today I choose to walk through the world with the courage in my power without fear or apology.