I often hear people say, I don’t want to try because ...
… I just want this feeling to go away.
As psychologist, speaker and author Susan David says, “You have dead people’s goals. Only dead people never get unwanted feelings or get inconvenienced by their feelings. Only dead people never get stressed, never get broken hearts, never experience the disappointment that comes with failure. Tough emotions are part of our contract with life. You don’t get to have a meaningful career or family and leave the world a better place without some discomfort. Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life.”
Fear is the emotion at the core of these thoughts. To be courageous doesn’t mean to overcome our fear. Courage is not the absence of fear. It doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. Courageous people take action regardless of their fears.
As Susan David states, “Courage is fear walking.” It pushes you to resist the impulse to shy away from the things that stir up your innermost anxieties. Courage is the catalyst that inspires constant movement forward. It’s tiny pieces of fear all glued together.
I invite you to be fully alive by embracing courage as a tool to walk with fear. Stop playing it small and safe, instead embrace the price of admission to having a meaningful life. What baby step can take this week to move in the direction of your hopes and dreams? Identify it, no matter how small, and take action toward accomplishing it in the next few days. Bring your fear along with you on the journey.
- I don’t want to feel disappointed.
- I don’t want to be judged.
- I don’t want to fail.
- I don’t want to look incompetent.
… I just want this feeling to go away.
As psychologist, speaker and author Susan David says, “You have dead people’s goals. Only dead people never get unwanted feelings or get inconvenienced by their feelings. Only dead people never get stressed, never get broken hearts, never experience the disappointment that comes with failure. Tough emotions are part of our contract with life. You don’t get to have a meaningful career or family and leave the world a better place without some discomfort. Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life.”
Fear is the emotion at the core of these thoughts. To be courageous doesn’t mean to overcome our fear. Courage is not the absence of fear. It doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. Courageous people take action regardless of their fears.
As Susan David states, “Courage is fear walking.” It pushes you to resist the impulse to shy away from the things that stir up your innermost anxieties. Courage is the catalyst that inspires constant movement forward. It’s tiny pieces of fear all glued together.
I invite you to be fully alive by embracing courage as a tool to walk with fear. Stop playing it small and safe, instead embrace the price of admission to having a meaningful life. What baby step can take this week to move in the direction of your hopes and dreams? Identify it, no matter how small, and take action toward accomplishing it in the next few days. Bring your fear along with you on the journey.
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