There are different kinds of Courage. We may not recognize it. It is not only running into a burning building but being willing to invest in something new, to take a risk. Utilizing Consciousness Technologies and exploring life is Courage engaged. Challenging ones own thoughts and feelings and definitions and putting the status quo at risk is Courage.
Right now is a time for a sense of Courage in our political arenas in particular. Stepping outside of party lines and standing for principled actions of government and consequences may take Courage these days. How sad.
Courage is reaching out for something different, something unknown.
Courage seems to be what we need to remember we each possess in some degree of awakened awareness. In being present, in Heart Centered Awareness, Courage is not something one needs to look for. It is already within. It is not a state of mind, it is a state in BEing.
Many don't necessarily feel courageous as part of their makeup. We save it for moments of stress perhaps, where we don't have time to think, but only to react. And conversely we might freeze in reaction and think that we have missed acting courageous as a response. Feeling compassion for oneself in triggered moments of stress doesn't necessarily go hand in hand. It often will take an observer to be able to notice clearly what is happening or our role in play. Breathing in stillness for another day may be the courageous act.
“There is no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bear witness that a man has the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.” —Viktor Frankl
Here is a wonderful article about Courage by Melinda Greenberg PhD. The Six Attributes of Courage
They include:
Feeling Fear Yet Choosing to Act
Following Your Heart
Persevering in the Face of Adversity
Standing Up For What Is Right
Expanding Your Horizons; Letting Go of the Familiar
Facing Suffering With Dignity or Faith
I will offer you this.
Make some moments to just notice your breath through your heart. Feel the alignment and the calm and consider if you have exercised your sense of Courage lately.
Notice how you relate to the idea of Courage. Sit and find it in your field awareness.
Perhaps notice it as a star maybe. Notice it. Do you see it clearly or is there perhaps a cloud around it? Maybe the distance between here and there is filled with stuff that you need to navigate around. Just notice. Don't judge. It is there somewhere. And, if you don't see it, that means you don't recognize it. Which is fine. Does not mean it is not there.
What would it be like to lock on to this star and bring it into yourself?
Feel what happens when you engage it out there and then when it comes into you.
Feel that. Let yourself be different. That is Courage. It is you.
Janet Barrett
Life in the Beyond/Journeys Into Enlightenment
www.janetandbeyond.com
janetb@janetandbeyond.com
