Courage
By Lora Cecca Lyons, Somatic Coach
Courage. A powerful word, yet one I took for granted until recently.
During a conference call last week, one of the callers reported the transition she and her family are undergoing as they sell their home and leave everything they know behind, purchase acres of open land across the country and embark on designing the life they have been dreaming of for years. She was acknowledged for her courageousness. Then someone added that the word “courage” derives from the Latin room “cor” meaning, “heart”. This gave me pause.
Since that conversation, I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of courage and what inspires one to act with courage. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “the heart as the seat of feeling, thought.” For one to move with courage, there must be heart or passion. To be a stand for something. To continue on while facing the unknown and uncertainty. When one acts with courage, she dances between conviction and vulnerability.
As I continue my reflection – I recognize the acts of courage all around me: a toddler jumping in the water for the first time, a mother preparing for labor, a man starting his own business, and a woman who has cancer for the second time and dares to live her life to the fullest and follow her dreams. These are all acts of courage. It really takes something to push past our comfortable boundaries and extend towards something just beyond our reach.
I have the distinct honor to witness remarkable acts of courage at the healing retreats at F. Holland Day House. The participants are extraordinarily courageous and incredibly vulnerable women. They come to not only heal from a cancer diagnosis or trauma but also to reclaim their life and full self expression.
Each woman declares that she will no longer allow cancer or her past to identify or stop her. Just like a warrior princess, she takes a dignified stand as she stares at the face of fear and self doubt and claims what is rightfully hers: her own precious, beautiful life. By the end of week-long retreat, her courageousness pays off. She truly embodies her declared destiny.
These women are some of the most courageous human beings I am privileged to know.
“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” – Alan Cohen
Questions to invite reflection:
- What is your definition of courage or courageousness?
- Where in your life are you stepping outside of your comfort zone and taking risks? (Celebrate these!) Where are you not?
- What do you long for or yearn for that is not currently in your life?
- What is one courageous act you are willing take on in order to claim what you long for? If there was a guarantee of success – what would it be? Some examples: is there a conversation you’ve been wanting or needing to have with someone but have been putting it off? Have you always wanted to try skydiving or take up singing lessons?
- Do you have any practices to ground, center and bring you back into your body (and out of your head) in order to increase your capacity to take on new action?
- What would support your courageousness? Is there someone who can lend you encouraging support or whom you can report regularly to?
Remember… it takes just one step at a time and one breath at a time. As the famous saying goes, “Rome was not built in one night.”
I would love to hear what shifts occur when you take on a courageous act. Be bold and courageous and email me to let me know how it’s going. And if you are feeling stopped or stuck, be bold and a stand for your courageousness and contact me.
Blessings,
Lora
Lora@LyonsLeadershipCoaching.com