How to Step into Courage
Look. I get it. It takes lots of vulnerability to be courageous sometimes. Trust me, after writing my previous post here, I almost erased it. So how does one step into courage? First, let’s take a look at the word itself. What is courage?
: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty
That was how Merriam-Webster defined it. But to be honest, I define it in thousand little ways and I am willing to bet that you have done any number of things that could be considered courageous.
I want to show you an exercise that I might do with my Club, so bear with me a moment. Take a good look at this quote: It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else. ~Erma Bombeck
Have you ever shown your dreams to other people? That moment when you are on the brink of telling them the greatest joy you ever had and the plans you want to make, and you rush forward and. Stop. <<< well that’s fear and we’re actually going to talk about that a little later in my Club and on my FB Page, but courage is when you take that deep breath after the panic, and you go ahead. Now if you’d like, take a moment to journal around this thought. You can pin this to come back to this if you want, but I really want you to think about this quote.
Our culture is ripe with tales of courage. Do you remember being a kid and watching Indiana Jones? Oh how I loved that movie. Especially this part, and I didn’t make it so ignore the spelling:
Well, it just so happens that I couldn’t stand snakes after I accidentally stepped on one in an outdoor hotel lobby. And it wrapped around my ankle and bit me, and I had to go to the hospital for hours with no food in my stomach in case it was venomous. Anyway, so later in life I volunteered at the Virginia Living Museum and I learned how to reach my hand into a pillowcase, no lie, and grab a snake that was not venomous. I also learned that their scales are like the same thing as finger nails…it still doesn’t mean I like them, but I tried.
Anyway, I bet you have done something in your life that took great courage. I felt fear yet I was choosing to try to get over that fear as best I could. That is a sign of stepping into courage. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. ~Nelson Mandela
Then there was this time that a lady was bullying my friend and everyone at work was so afraid of this lady. She would scream we were racists if we stood up to her, so she would hide, go on longer lunch breaks, not come back to the classroom for hours, seriously, and then when she did show up, she wouldn’t help my friend (yes, later she was put on probation). Anyway, she stood in the hall screaming at my friend in front of kids and other teachers one day so I stood up to her and said whatever it was I said to get her to calm down, and then later I reported the incident when no one else would. They didn’t want to be the ones to report this lady, no lie, because they knew she’d come after them. A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)
After that incident, I was shaking, but I got it done. Have you ever stood up to a bully before? It’s not easy, but it must be done. I will always practice what I would preach to my children. How could I not?
At some point in your life, there are any number of actions that have taken courage my friends. I just know it. You have probably felt afraid but done something anyway like riding a roller coaster. You have listened to your heart or even your gut and stepped out on that stage to speak. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”~ Steve Jobs
I said yes to jumping on an airplane to England last year, and going by myself to speak at a conference and I am so glad I did. I hadn’t actually met anyone in person and my parents thought any number of things could have gone wrong…it was a list daily. But without the courage to travel alone, walk around London alone, and go see Stonehenge alone, I would have always regretted it. What if…what ifs are the things we don’t want to be thinking about.
Want to learn more? 30 days of journal prompts around courage in the month of August plus tutorials, master classes online, meditations, bonus yoga poses and more. >>> Head|Heart|Health Club <<<