INSIGHTS AND OUT Courage in All Things One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. (Maya Angelou) Jan 2008

Michael Martinez

When you think of the word “courage,” you probably envision huge acts of heroism engaged in on a huge scale. But courage has important everyday meanings and implications, too. The dictionary defines courage as “the ability to do something that frightens one.”

Such larger-than-life acts of courage as rescuing people from a burning building, confronting a violent person in a situation where serious injury or even death looms large, and taking an unpopular public stand because of your convictions are memorable for their rarity.

This leads many of us to conclude that courage itself is rare. But that is not the case.

I certainly don’t want to downplay the importance of these “big courage” moments, but I think it’s important to keep them in perspective.

Many of us show real courage in our everyday lives but we don’t recognize it, let alone celebrate it. Every act of courage — big or small — should be acknowledged and celebrated. But the day-to-day acts of courage in which you engage and probably don’t recognize are the very acts that pave the way to the confidence you need to create the life that you want. And of course courage is essential to making your way through tough times.

Perhaps we don’t recognize these “little” acts of courage because we don’t recognize what constitutes such an act. Courageous actions display such great variety of context and experience that it’s difficult to come up with a brief definition that covers them all.

Perhaps, then, it is better not to try to confine the definition of the word “courage” but rather to provide examples of courageous acts. By looking at this list and comparing it to our lives, we can gain a deep appreciation for the true meaning of courage and the reality courage plays in our lives.

Courage is:
Telling people about your dream, when you are not sure what they are going to say.
Overcoming your natural timidity and standing up for yourself.
Making a move to a new home.
Looking for or starting a new job.
Deciding not to eat that piece of cake that is tempting you because you are mindful of wanting to improve your health.
Starting over, perhaps even re- inventing yourself in the process, following a life-changing event.
Asking for what you want and need.

As you look over this list, I suspect you will spot some things that may remind you of decisions you’ve made or actions you’ve taken that have the same quality as one or more of these.

If so, congratulate yourself! Celebrate your courage!

It may not be obvious, but it even takes courage, in today’s society, to be exactly who you are, authentically.

It isn’t easy to stand up to others’ expectations; to refuse to live up to the dreams that parents, spouses, children, friends, and mentors might have for you and to give yourself permission to create the life that you want to create.

I challenge you to take some time to journal. Make a list of the everyday acts of courage that you find yourself engaging in.

Really look at the situations in your life and how you handle them and improve them. Give yourself some credit. Then take the time to celebrate yourself.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to stimulate the start of this journaling process.

How can I show up with more courage in my everyday life?
Where have I looked fear in the face and moved through it? Where would I like to confront such fear and overcome it?
What decisions have I made that were not the easy way out, but were in my long-term best interest?
Where have I been willing to forego immediate gratification in return for a better future outcome?
When and how did I refuse to “roll over and play dead” when someone else tried to run my life or bully me, insisting on my own truth?
Remember that each of these acts of courage that you note, celebrate, and remember is an important building block in overcoming fear in your life.

Helen Keller once said:
I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.

Heather Shafer
831-324-0894
heather@insightandout.com
www.insightsandout.com