Calling on Courage

Every time I hear the word “courage” or experience its force in action, I’m consistently struck by the enormity of its strength and fearlessness that it, so often, inspires. No matter how big or small an act of courage may be, there’s only one way to describe a choice to show up bigger and bolder and more vulnerable and authentic than you have ever been before: awesome. You can’t fail when you take the risk to become more of yourself. Sure, you might stumble in the process - fall, stumble and fall, disappoint someone, create confusion, or find yourself in any other number of indisputably uncomfortable emotional experiences, but the discomfort is the most valuable part. Let me repeat, “Discomfort is the most valuable part.” When you develop the fortitude (a close cousin to courage) to sit with your I-want-to-jump-out-of-my-skin-and-stick-my-head-in-the-sand feelings, you begin to understand a hard earned, but simple truth: you’ll be okay. In fact, you’ll be better than okay. Imagine looking at your life from the inside out rather than the outside in. It’s the difference between how a marble looks when you hold it in your hand and when you see that same marble through the eye of a kaleidoscope. We are all capable of having kaleidoscopic lives: dimensional, delightfully mysterious, flowing and colliding, twisting and turning, rising and falling, deepening and expanding, patterned without being rigid, clear despite moments of blurriness, and beautiful even when the picture looks different than what we want it to be. It’s not easy to believe in something you can’t see, but courage is in all of us, and when you tap into yours, you’ll have eyes to see what your fear has blinded you to. You will be amazed by what you find hiding in the shadows and dancing in the light. It’s the best of everything that’s yet to come.