Ahimsa: Courage

Courage

To walk lightly requires confidence--confidence in ourselves, confidence in our decisions and the courage to carry out those decisions.  We really have to trust ourselves.  

Often in the midst of a uncomfortable situation, deciding what to do is not the hard part.  Making the right decision and knowing what to do is usually pretty simple.  The difficultly arises in the follow-through, in the actual doing.  The decision making gets the blame because we are afraid or made uncomfortable even thinking about what the decision requires of us.  Sometimes we need real courage for that follow through.

Just last week my daughter was hit by a car while crossing a busy street.  She was bruised and shook up but sustained no internal injuries and no broken bones.  For this we are so very grateful.  Unfortunately her deepest injury was to her sense of self and personal safety.  She was given several days off to heal up but had to return to work, and normal life, yesterday.  She lives in the capital city of a foreign country and her daily commute involves bus changes, heavy traffic and negotiating several busy crossings.  Having been a little haunted by the accident, stuck in the instant replay loop she was terrified.  In time all this will fade but the idea of going to work, going any where, really had her upset.

The decision to go to work, to continue with life, that's easy, a real no-brainer, but to actually step out into traffic takes real courage.  I got a little note from her yesterday letting me know she survived.  I am very pleased and very proud.  It will get better every day, each time she faces her fear and crosses the street successfully her confidence will grow until this act of courage becomes routine.

Having courage does not mean we are never afraid, it means we carry on in spite of our fears.