Courage

def. That quality of mind which enables one to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear, or fainting of heart; valor; boldness; resolution.

I see courage regularly in my work and personal life. I'm not always sure the people I interact with on a daily basis see it as I do.....and my wish is that they do; that they empower themselves with the knowledge they might have fears but don’t let them stand in their way of succeeding and leading.

There are those who look at their life, decide they don’t like what they’ve become and take the steps necessary to change that. That takes a, incredible amount of courage. When you look at people who have to deal with crises in their lives, the adrenaline kicks in and most often they deal with what comes their way without conscious thought...purely by instinct and only after realise the depth of their actions.

But it’s those who consciously look life in the face and bravely take the steps to better it that I’m talking about here. The saying that fear of the known is much better than fear of the unknown. At least you know what you’re dealing with. So if your life isn’t going exactly as you’d dreamed about, well, "Perfect lives don’t happen in the every day world so I’ll make the best of it" attitude comes into play. The person who turns around and says "I don’t like where I’m going. I am not happy and choose to do something about it" jumping in with both feet, well they’re the ones who demonstrate courage by choice.

It doesn’t mean you have to quit your job tomorrow, or leave the partner that didn’t turn out to be everything you’ve read in story books. What it is that I’m saying is, whatever isn’t working in your life, if you choose not to do anything about it, that’s up to you, however don’t expect change to happen by virtue of an imaginary magic wand. It takes guts to make life-altering changes. For those who have, I hope you’ve celebrated those choices no matter the outcome. Making the choice in the first place is courageous in itself and there’s nothing to say you can’t learn from it and make another choice later on.

It’s having the resolve to look at the possibilities and incorporate them into a life of your choosing, translating into a life where you attract what you want into it, eliminating what you don’t want. When you’re able to do that, have the courage to take that first step, you’ll no longer need freedom of those things you no longer want. They won’t be there in the first place.

Hats off to you! Making every day choices is much more difficult that those made in critical situations. The latter is what’s heaped on you and you deal with them with whatever you have at your disposal. The first is taking a step back and saying "I will change what’s not working and make my life better". It’s not as many will suggest in the guise of friendly advice, making the best of it. It’s choosing what’s best for you.

Wishing you just that...
Donna Karlin