In my new ongoing series of life lessons and teachable moments, I will be sharing food for thought items that have inspired me, made me cry, made me think, made me change, and most of all, made me ME.
I never really knew that I had courage until recently. It came a point in my life when I saw others around me who were afraid. Afraid to be themselves. To be “weak”. To be vulnerable. To confront their truths. Afraid to do the “work”. I’ve had my issues with all of those as well. But I’ve never been one to hide from my issues or problems, or misplace blame onto others about “my stuff”. When I mess up, I own my mess up. And I try to rectify the situation. But not everyone does this. They would rather be silent or hide their feelings because a. they are afraid or b. it’s the easy way out.
Yes, being silent is the easy way out.
Talking out the pain, the hurt, and asking the hard questions takes work and resolve. It also takes courage.
Being courageous isn’t something that is common anymore. We can hide behind our computers and spit venom to others without identifying ourselves. We can send emails and inbox short DMs without really revealing what’s really bothering us. We can go through the motions of “looking” like we are making progress when we really aren’t. None of those items I just mentioned are courageous acts. They are disguised action items that don’t really expose courage.
Being courageous takes action. It takes someone who doesn’t mind going against the grain or status quo because they feel it’s right. It takes hard work. Silence is easy. Talking it out, being upfront and open and vulnerable—-that is courageous.
If you would’ve asked me a few months ago if I was courageous, I would’ve said no. I haven’t “fought” for anything. I haven’t made waves. That was my former definition of courageous. But I now know that being courageous is so much more than that.
When you are courageous, you may lose friends, especially if they aren’t in the same place with their self esteem as you are. When you are courageous, you don’t wear it as a badge. You just do what you feel needs to be done and say what it is you need to say, without taking the easy way out. When you are courageous, you sleep well every night. Because your chest is light and so are your burdens. You can lay down knowing that your baggage has been unloaded. When you are courageous, you are usually a leader. Someone who has resolve to do not what you want to do but what you need to do.
Courage is action.
Silence usually wins when people don’t want to do the work. And guess what? A lot of people don’t want to do the work. The hard work. They want to please others, but they can’t even please themselves. I am not saying this out of a place of judgment because I have been there and done that. But I became a better person when I decided to do the work. Even if that means performing the NEED and not the WANT.
I hope I can continue to be courageous. I hope I can continue to do the work. I hope you can too. Because even though you don’t think you can do it, I think YOU CAN.
{ Be. Courageous. }
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