Sometimes I need a good kick in the pants. Here's a muse I wrote in 2007 about courage. Who doesn't need some right now? I do.
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Moonlight streamed in Joan’s window. As the light danced around the room, her mind traveled back in time.
- She stood at her parent’s car and shook the hand of a man she would not marry even though he wanted to marry her.
- She missed the importance of a conversation that was held in 1976
- She felt the first movement of her oldest child as a soon-to-be mother.
- She saw one of her sons tumble down the stairs.
- She saw herself making a mistake that would haunt her life for ten years.
- She relived the moment when she received dreadful news via a telephone call.
- She saw the events of two days play over and over, as if they were stuck. She longed to pop herself on the side of her head and get them to move forward to a conclusion.
Joan lived and relived every joy, mistake, failure, and accident in those hours and wondered about it all.
“People speak of having an event to overcome – in the singular. But there have been multiple events in my life, often occurring in rows like fields of corn. Sometimes, they have crashed upon my life like waves in a stormy sea. What does it all mean?”
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Our society at large seems to have the misconception that it is possible to have a charmed life and if it doesn’t occur, then individuals who are experiencing trials have made dreadful, unforgivable mistakes which require public flogging. Public figures are admired (for their wealth and stature) and yet, if they slip and make an error or experience disaster, the media runs stories about the failures repeatedly as some sort of proof that this individual did not deserve their achievements, and so they must be brought down.
I believe that the sadness in the media’s shark-like behavior is that it permeates the rest of our lives. We are drilled into the belief that individuals who make mistakes or have trials must be humiliated. Because we believe this, we find it hard to admit to failures and mistakes – even to our close associates – because we fear becoming shamed and isolated just when we need love and support the most.
Perhaps, this fear of sharing ourselves with each other (because we all do make errors) contributes to the depression and loneliness so many individuals feel. People who have made mistakes feel bad about themselves. They fear losing their support system by admitting what they have done.
Perhaps, this fear of sharing ourselves with each other (because we all do experience trials) contributes to the unwillingness we often exhibit to reach out to others when we are experiencing difficult times in our lives. We feel that because we have hit a rough patch, we will be looked upon by those who surround us as less than we were.
It takes courage to get through these moments in our lives. It takes courage to ask for help during these moments in our lives. It takes courage to talk about what is happening to us in our lives. Sometimes, it just takes courage to exist, to stand up and walk.
I found this little poem this morning about Courage which I would like to share with you. I hope that you enjoy it.
Courage
We lead out our days in monotonous ways
The humdrum of work and of sleep.
Time slips along, no thrill in the song
Not even a reason to weep.
And then, like a flash, there comes such a crash,
We’re stunned by the buffet Fate gives
In the blackness and blur we feel the soul stir
And that is the moment one lives.
When disaster beats down, the true men are found
And cowards are marked with a brand.
They whimper and whine: they cringe and repine
And the whiplash Fate holds in her hand.
The brave men fight on though the chasm may yawn
And midnight’s unlit by a star.
How you face defeat in the crisis you meet
That measures the man that you are.
All through the years there are smiles and tears,
But they, in the end, are the same.
One moment of life in the midst of the strife,
Is worth ages of watching the game.
With dismay in your heart, if you still played your part,
Though bloody and beaten and sore;
If your soul flamed white in the hopeless fight,
The world will ask for no more.
- Anonymous
I believe that ultimately we have to find a source of courage greater than ourselves because when we face certain trials, there is not a source of help from humankind that is great enough. Abraham Lincoln, who often talked about the strength he received from God during his darkest hours while he dealt with the difficulty of leading a country in turmoil said, “Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”
Sometimes, that is all we can do – our duty. We simply must get up, face the day the best we can and do our duty the best we can in each singular moment. And when we do, we are being courageous.
Ro
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