A quote I recently read on social media said ‘courage is the power of the mind to overcome fear’. That is easier said than done I thought to myself, because fear so often creeps into my thought patterns without making any sort of flashy announcement notifying me of its impending arrival. How charming fear is! I find myself with all sorts of mountains to climb, obstacles to navigate and jobs to do with my mind clouded with fear fuelled thoughts. Can I really do this? What if I fail?
This past weekend I was tasked with writing and performing a short comedy play for a friend of mine at a conference entitled ‘Let courage be your anthem’. About 6 months prior, my friend approached me and said “I really need you to gather a cast and write an original short play on the theme of courage, about 20 minutes in total and it needs to be really funny.” My heart felt honoured, my mind thought ‘I’m petrified, not on your nelly’ but my mouth said “Sure, I’d love to!” Ever been in that situation? Finding yourself saying yes to something then immediately regretting it?
Over the course of the next 6 months I had penned numerous ideas, all of which jet setted their way into the bin disguised as paper planes. I had started off well, I said yes to something new, something I’d never done before and I stepped out in courage but then one day I realised I was far from succeeding due to a fear of failing. With little over 2 months to go I was stationary, having not written much and with a bucket load of excuses on the tip of my tongue to get me out of the commitment I’d made to my friend. Thankfully I never actually verbalised those excuses, I made a decision to knuckle down, gather the team and write. I am pleased to report the script got written, was performed to a conference of 200+ individuals and was well received – they laughed in all the right places! Phew. I made the decision in my mind to favour courage over fear and it felt good.
Life requires courage, sometimes it may be in the trivial day to day opportunities that life presents, (a bit like my script writing opportunity) and sometimes it may be in and through the life changing circumstances we all face like starting a family, buying a house, changing jobs, facing bereavement or unforeseen illness or financial pressure. Life is meant to be a beautiful adventure, one to be enjoyed in all its fullness. My experiences in life have made me realise that fear has a dirty habit of keeping us in one place gathering dust, ineffective and only experiencing a fraction of the beauty. I stepped out in courage when I took the script writing opportunity and I ended up having great fun, I accomplished something I never thought I could. The power of courage.
This month I encourage you to let courage be your life’s anthem, say yes to a few things that initially scare you at the thought of it and see what happens. The truth is, fear keeps us stationary, in the place of victim whereas courage kick starts momentum moving us to a place of overcomer. A quote by Albert Einstein sums it up perfectly “A ship is perfectly safe at shore, but that is not what it’s designed for”. Happy sailing and sing loudly the anthem of courage into your situations.
