You Don’t Run Out if You Use it!

For a young woman who is starting college in a month, life can feel daunting. I included these words in Maya’s graduation gift as I think they remind us about what we need everyday:

Life shrinks or expands
in proportion to one’s courage

– Anais Nin 1977

Courage, that element of life we all need no matter our age. Courage to get up and go, courage to try again, courage to face the challenges of everyday life, and the courage to be ourselves no matter who is in the room. I am reminded that no matter who we are or what we do, courage is needed on all levels.

Interestingly enough, life works best when we muster our courage, try new things, go to new places, meet new people and dare to believe that we can build the life we want. It can be scary and uncomfortable to move forward in courage, yet life is more rich and abundant when we do. How do we know when we need courage? Usually your stomach clinches, your mouth goes dry, your heart beats faster and there might be a sudden sense that something is coming. When we encounter new people, new places, new things to do, courage is in there working on our behalf. The more we use courage, the more we have. The more we become accustomed to doing new things, the more we can do it without fear. When we decide to live our lives without fear, without worrying about HOW we are going to do it all, just moving forward with gusto…THAT is when we know we have courage.

Is something new coming your way? Is there a project you want to tackle that makes you uncomfortable? Are there new places to go, new people to meet, new things to do? Are you doing something for the first time, or maybe cleaning out the old to make way for the new? Does a relationships need to change? Or maybe you are facing a challenge that has been nipping at your heels and you’ve been avoiding it…maybe because you need more courage. Like this quote says, life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. So get out there are employ, grow and use your courage. The beautiful thing is you don’t run out of courage if you use it, you will always be able to build more courage!