Courage Isn’t What You Think It is
Day #5 of Fear, Trust and Learning to Tell a More Hopeful Story
So far here’s what I know about fear from studying some of my own fears:
Fear makes the world smaller
Fear tells you to give up
Fear is repetitive, obsessive, hypnotic, and predictable:Fear shows you a future where things always end badly, in the worst way imaginable.
Fear cautions you against loss, and failure, and humiliation. It tells you that every choice will determine your fate, and it’s better not to do anything than to make a mistake.
The world according to fear is all or nothing, good guys or dumb or smart evil doers and the smart thing to is to anticipate the worst, and hoard whatever you have, just in case there’s a shortage.
Fear lives in a world where there is never enough opportunities, good choices, good people.
In the world of fear something is lying in wait, the other shoe is poised to drop.you have to be hyper vigilant or be unpleasantly surprised.
Some say the opposite of fear is love.
I think it’s courage. But courage is not only about fighting battles.
Courage is also about showing more of yourself to others and letting their opinions of you matter less.
To be bold you must find moments of happiness and lean into these moments, linger in them, allow yourself to dwell in good feelings, in calm, in peace, in a sense of security, in a feeling of good work done this day.
Lean into that reassurance and perhaps also stretch forward into a sense of daring, a feeling of delicious audacity
Courage is giving in to what delights you and seeking out what makes you feel free and fully alive.
Perhaps that is a question you could ask yourself is:
What can I do today to be even more boldly myself?
