May 6, 2002
Courage
In Tears
Courage is the ability to act regardless of the feelings or
potential consequences. Courage is following your intuition when the facts are against it.
Courage is saying 'I am sorry’ when you are at fault, 'I don't know' when you don't and
'I love you' despite the hurt, anger or fear. Each day we speak the truth with integrity,
own our responsibilities and reach out to another ... we are building courage muscle.
Rhonda
Britten, Fearless Living
In most cultures, courage carries
connotations of strength and self-assurance. It
is the image of the fearless hero that runs into the burning building or the soldier that
faces the enemy in battle. The synonyms for
courage are bravery, valor, and daring. My
cousins started a company that began by selling T-shirts with the words ‘No Fear’
emblazoned on them that turned into a multi-million dollar clothing company that appealed
to our desire to exhibit courage.
The dimensions of the soul include
qualities of courage. Like so many
attributes, we hardly know courage exists in us until we are confronted with circumstances
that call for us to show this quality. What I
enjoy about the quote from Rhonda Britten above is that she describes courage as an
everyday quality that we should exhibit. She
expands our understanding of how it is displayed from the dramatic events of disaster, to
our everyday decisions and our human interaction.
When we stretch ourselves beyond what is
normal, safe and comfortable for the good of others or ourselves, then we really are
performing acts of courage. In that context,
we must accept what may be courageous for one, might be ordinary and not courageous for
another. Let me give you an example from this
past week.
We have a neighbor family that is in the
process of moving. These are wonderful people
whom we have grown fond of through the years. They
were part of our neighborhood family that came together last year when one of our friends
battled cancer and ultimately died from the disease.
We have also shared many great times together as we watched our children grow.
The father of the family walked over to
visit for a few minutes as I was doing some spring clean-up in the yard.
He began to talk about how difficult this particular move is, not only for his
family, but also for him. As he reflected on
the close friendships he has made and the surroundings that we are blessed to live in, he
looked away and mentioned tears. Being raised
with the gender rule that men don’t cry, he fought to gain composure.
I on the other hand, never bought into the theory that crying is a sign of weakness
and allowed a few tears to roll. As if on cue
from the director of a beer commercial, we gave each other a hug and he said, “I love
you man”.
For me, showing emotion even to the point
of tears is not courageous. For him, it might
have been the most courageous thing I had seen him do.
His soul was speaking and he let it sing.
With respect, acceptance, and love,
Richard
© Richard D. Olson and Awaken The Soul, 2002; Edited by Janice E. Olson