What Does It Take To Be Courageous?

In the face of life, pain, challenge, difficulty, hopelessness, despair, and insurmountable odds, what does it take to to what needs to be done?

What does it take to be courageous?

 

A strong “Why”

If you have strong enough reasons to do anything, then you certainly will go and do it.

Courage is the power and attitude to act, and move forward in the face of fear, in the face of uncertainty, and in the face of challenge and pain.

You know it’s going to hurt, it’s scary, and you might not succeed.

But you go and do it anyway.

That’s courage.

Courage and action comes from having strong enough reasons to act.

Strong enough to launch you forward in the face of danger.

Strong enough to push you out of your comfort zone, into the danger zone, into the courage zone.

Strong enough to get your body and mouth moving, even though your heart and mind want to retreat.

If you have a strong enough “why”, any “how” becomes apparent, and possible.

 

Compelling vision for the future

A very compelling goal, a vision for the future that you want so bad, and would do anything for, will always bring out the courage in you.

There came a point where I wasn’t exercising, spending all my waking hours, sitting in front of a computer.

And pretty soon, My lower back was out of alignment, and I could not walk.  It was unbearable to even just bend forward, pain pulsating all the way from my hip, to my knee, to everywhere else in my body.

Ouch.

I dreamed of a time when I would be able to walk again, bend forward again, and maybe, become stronger.

There was so much pain.

And yet, it was the fear that helped me.

Not the fear of uncertainty, whether the exercise or routines, effort that I would be investing would pay off.

It was the fear that if I didn’t do anything, I’d still be in the hell that I got myself into.

Fear of my life staying the same, the same shitty way it has been for a long time.

So then, from fear, transforming itself into courage, into actions.

Into me being able to walk again now.

And this isn’t just for body goals.  Money, relationship, career, heck, even how you handle the small, annoying stuff, like paying your taxes.

Have a compelling vision for your future.

Scare yourself into having courage.

Desperation

When we’re desperate, we get courageous.

Simply, because at that point, it’s one of the resources that we have that we haven’t tapped into yet.

If we had courage earlier, then we wouldn’t have found ourself in our sticky situations.

But that’s not how we work, and that’s not how life made us.

We’re the types to be lulled into a false sense of security.  As long as we’re comfortable, we’re good.

But comfort is a curse.  It doesn’t assure us we’ll get what we want in the future, or even right now.

In fact, we’d rather be comfortable, rather than stretching and hurting ourselves to reach our dreams.

Until we reach rock bottom, almost-dying, soul scraping pain, and fear.

Then, we get desperate to get out of the pits of our own making.

We take courage, because at this point, there is nothing else to lose, and all for us to win.

and you know what takes even more courage?  

To be courageous enough to do the right thing, even in the face of desperation.

 

Faith that it will work out in the end

If you knew that whatever you choose to do, it would not fail, what would you be doing?

What would you spend your life on, your waking hours towards?

If the faith is there, then the confidence comes, building up into courage.

Despite all of the problems, confusion, and uncertainty, if you know you need to be doing something, and you have faith that it will work out in the end, that brings forth courage.

Because we’re also sick and tired of staying put, watching everyone else achieve their dreams, while our time, energy, and futures waste away.

Because we’re so afraid to fail.  We’re so afraid to even try.

We’re so afraid of looking like a fool.

But many a fool, were really fools!  Fools for not knowing what to do, and where they would end up.

But they have all the faith in the world that things would work out.

And that they would end up exactly where they want to be, and need to be.

If they just took courage, and went for it.

It all starts with a decision

Because to be courageous, you have to want it.

You have to decide to be courageous.

That you are a person with courage, and will act with courage.

And you’ll dig deep, and find the courage within you.

Be courageous.

 

What fills you with courage?  Please share in the comment below, and let me know!