Courage

Saturday, 'he who wishes to remain unnamed on FB" gently laid down a gauntlet in my pathway.  He did it with encouraging words.  I have been tiptoeing and stutter-stepping through that challenge ever since.  Fear is holding me hostage.  Fear that I will not succeed.  Fear that I don't have the self-discipline to do the work to accomplish the goal.  I think of myself as having more courage than that, but, I'm feeling stymied at the moment about this thing.  I appreciate his encouragment.  Soon, soon (picture my fingers crossed) I will face the challenge head-on.

My son is fearless.  He always has been.  I remember a day in particular when he asked us all to watch as he jumped across the creek in our backyard.  Unfortunately, he was in his Sunday clothes and did not quite make it all the way across.  Result:  torn pants, bloody shins, perhaps a temporary sense of failure, but he remained undaunted, and courageously lived to jump the creek many times again. 

One of the reasons he is fearless is that he is not afraid to fail.  He sees the value in "failure."  When something does not work out the first time for him, he is challenged to find a way to make it work.  There is joy for him in the search for another way.  That takes great courage.  There are countless stories of Marshall being asked if he could do something and his replying "yes" even though he had never done anything like that before.  With courage, he does not let "can't" cross his mind.

My daughter has a great can-do spirit as well.  She taps into her creativity in her home, in her job, and in the way she relates to others.  When there is a job to be done, she may study options, and then courageously move forward.  While Marshall sort of enjoys the "failure step," MP will do the preliminary work to try to avoid that step altogether.  And yet, if failure occurs, she keeps on until she reaches the desired goal. 

I apologize if this post has a sense of the self-indulgent, bragging on my kids and such. I have a quotation pinned above my computer that Marshall sent me: "A mom reads you like a book, and wherever she goes, people read you like a glowing book review." He added, "not sure who said it, but it made me think of you." I am glad it did.

So, I have much to learn from my kids.  I will try to emulate them as I consider meeting the challenge laid before me on Saturday.  I will need their encouragement to help me not let the thoughts, "I can't" creep in and defeat me before I even get started.  Like the Cowardly Lion, I need courage.

For whatever is causing you fear, I wish you courage and

blessings