Courage and Resilience

Courage can be defined as the ability to face fears with our heads held high. It is not the absence of fear which defines bravery. In fact, people experience fear everyday, and sometimes are even paralyzed by it. We are allowed to feel emotions such as fear. In fact, we should! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be human if we were immune to many types of emotions, not all of which are pleasant. We all have the potential for heroism, and in our own ways, we can show that we are willing to face all the trials that life throws at us.

The opportunity to be courageous is inside of us all and we are given many opportunities where we can practice this. We sometimes do everything we can to avoid these uncomfortable situations. As we face the Goliath of our inner David, we get scared of the unknown and of the possibility that we will lose. Some of us feel that we can’t help but flinch and run away. That is why, in times of fearful crisis we need to know that there are things around us that can help us. We have to know that we all have the innate ability to summon all our strength and stand our ground.

Here are just a few tips that may help us along the way:

1. We have to know what support we have, and use it. Fear can rule us and paralyze us if we let it. Then, instead of facing something manageable, we face a puffed up illusion of the fear. We have to realize that we can always have someone or something to lean on. Perhaps ask the people in our lives to help us through the ordeal, no matter how small or big it is. Our insecurities may be so huge in our minds that issues can seem insurmountable; but the only way we can overcome them is to face them and push ourselves towards them. If we have people we can count on, they may help us get some true perspective, or assist us in other ways. This is not to say that we forgo all our responsibilities and let other people handle all of it. We have to know that we still must go through with things, but having a supportive person in our lives can make a world of difference.

If we are religious, or spiritual, then prayer or some other spiritual activity may help. Even people who claim to be atheists are known to pray when the plane is going down!

2. We need to learn to discover what’s beyond our comfort zone and push those boundaries outwards. When we have to confront something, there is an element of risk of the unknown. If there are risks involved, it does not mean we have to let go of our plans simply because we do not know what could happen. The more we confront the fear, the easier our lives become. Risks are always around. If we always give up, we will digress and destroy our lives. What will make us stronger is our ability to always get up every time we fall.

3. We need to face life with optimism. We have to appreciate that there are things that are beyond our control. We need to accept this fact and change the way we respond to situations. Instead of letting situations bring us down, we must find ways to make them work to our advantage. This takes practice, but once we are able to alter our attitude, we will see that life does not throw us problems that we can’t handle.

4. We may need to consider obtaining some deep inner healing to resolve deep seated fear roots. Some fears can only be resolved by specialized intervention. A halfway house treatment can be special conditioning often used by psychologists which does not get rid of the fear, but does help alter a person’s response/reactions. For permanent deep release from fear appropriate inner healing methods are usually required. If you want more information on this please let me know here.

Courage and resilience go hand in hand and produce healthy personal growth. Nature has gifted us with the ability to adapt. It is now up to us to discover how to use it.

Finally, have a think about this concept and how you can apply it to your own life:

One day, Mr & Mrs Courage were relaxing in their lounge room when there was a knock on the door. A guy called Mr Quaking Fear was outside hoping to gain admittance. Mr Courage answered the door and there was no one there. You see, we are all multi faceted personalities. We all have different personas to suit differing situations. When Mr Courage answered the door, Mr Quaking Fear disappeared because there was no room for him in the presence of courage. Simply speaking, when fear knocks on the door of your life don’t let it in. It will poison your psyche. Oh yeah….it’s infectious too!

Related posts:

1. Step through fear.
2. Thoughts On How You Can Be A Better You
3. Fear – a different slant.
4. Fear – deeper remedies.
5. Living with Hope