“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage ~ Anais Nin
What experiences in your life have called you to be courageous? What aspects of your behaviours would you define as showing courage?
It takes courage to live your personal truth – up front and authentically. Such a process begins with inner reflection that accesses the essence that has been buried under a lifetime of settling for less and that is hidden behind all the masks you wear.
The thing is, living your life with courage does not mean you have to flaunt your ‘hero cape’ in order to prove your bravery. In fact, the deepest acts of courage occur in small ways everyday and are revealed in the mindful and conscious choices you make to live in alignment with your soul and your truth. It occurs in deciding to make choices in favour of your growth. It occurs when you stretch the envelope of your safety zone. It occurs when you speak up and walk away from an experience knowing you acted in harmony with your goals and desires.
Ways You Can Show Courage In Your Life:
Be fearless – Note the fear you might feel and choose to act anyway
Exercise your muscle to strengthen courage– being in touch with the words or actions that align with your inner truth and then making a habit of speaking that truth in the smallest ways.
“…you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging” ~ Brene Brown
- Engage in a new experience.
- Do something that might be a little risky such as sky diving or riding a bike for the first time.
- Do something by yourself for the first time.
- Make a public presentation about something you believe in.
- Sign up for a program or class that intimidates you.
- Volunteer to help others
- Ask a question at a public forum
Build your Courage Portfolio – Give yourself credit for all the times you were fearful but acted anyway or you took a deep breath and dove into the deep end of a situation. Can you identify three times you did this? Start a journal, record these three and add to your collection every day.
Find your cause and take action – Identify what is meaningful to speak out against and take steps to work on social activism – join a group of like-minded people and work for a cause that matters to you – animals, prejudice, bullying
Look beyond what others think – honor your inner instincts in what actions you take. For example, you might want to make a difference with your message. Delivering might mean you must engage public speaking and risk ridicule ie – sometimes you must choose play over work
Be inspired by the courage of others – Pay attention to people around who are the quietly courageous individuals.
Try this -> Looking at your actions through the lens of courage
* Take a minute to consider three times in your life where you put on your ‘hero cape’ and stood in your courage.
*Think of someone you admire as a courageous icon – what three attributes do you admire
*How could you incorporate more of your own courage moments? More of the courage of others who inspire you?
Let go of the familiar and let yourself stretch past the safe shore where you might rather be.
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~Lord Chesterfield
