Courage is not being fearless, it is acknowledging your fear walking ahead anyway.
When I was in graduate school homework usually consisted of problem sets. Sometimes I would procrastinate one as long as I could. The longer I waited the more the fear would build up and the less I wanted to get started. Even though I might suspect that it wasn’t going to be a really big deal, the fear would keep me from even checking to see if it was going to be relatively simple, or take up half a weekend.
Often when I did finally get around to it, it would be pretty straight forward, and I would realize that most of the fear had little to do with the problem set itself. When we begin to fear something the fear builds on itself until there is a huge wall to even looking at it. In chemistry or physics this is called a potential barrier.
These potential barriers can also happen in doing our inner work. Sometimes there is a big charge and things are intense. It takes courage to forge ahead. Other times when we do finally create, or find, a space to tackle something it turns out to be a much smaller deal than our fears had built it up to be. We find that we are pleasantly relieved and full of the life force that no longer needs to hang out as fear.
Other times it is a long process, which can be challenging and our courage comes into play in the long run rather than just in the first steps. But often those first steps are the still the hardest.
In any case, doing our inner work rewards us with more space to be present as a soul having a human experience in the present, rather than being stuck in some part of our past. We have more life force and joy, more rest and peace. Our courage, in short, or over time, carries us through our fear and allows us to complete old karma so we can make new choices going forward.
This is a form of warriorship. I want to salute as warriors all of you that are walking some form of spiritual path. These days everything seems to move faster and faster, but take time to honor yourself in your process. Really acknowledge how far you have already come. Thank you for having the courage to walk your path. Whenever any one of us takes a step forward, exercises courage and is rewarded with life energy, the path becomes easier for all of us.
Even if you may feel at times that you haven’t any choice. You do. Take your courage and walk through your fear. It is often less than you think, a potential barrier that fades as you step through it. Honor that at some level of your being you are ready to move forward and grow. A little bit, or a large piece, it all adds up.
Lastly remember you are never alone, however much you may feel so. Your spiritual Self is with you, as are Spirit and your angels. And there are more of us than we think, so it’s often a friend or acquaintance who comes to support you, or who is grateful for your courage showing them the way.
With gratitude and many blessings, let us link hands and keep stepping forward.
(© 9/09)
