Affirmations

What is courage?  I’ve been thinking about this word a lot lately.  According to Merriam-Webster online, courage is “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.  Dictionary.com ascertains that it is “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc without fear; bravery.”  Some synonyms that Merriam-Webster shares are “daring, intrepidity and gutsiness.”    I think these definitions are partially correct.  My disagreement is with their presumption that courage is lacking fear.  In my experience, courage happens despite fear, not in the lack of fear.  What are your thoughts on that?  Can one be afraid and still demonstrate courage? In fact, what does demonstrating courage mean? What does courage look like? Sometimes, courage is bold:  standing up to a bully comes to mind.  For those facing down an enemy, courage could very well be shown, even i...

What activities make you feel the best?  I am happy when I can be productive in a way that serves others.      That poses a challenge for me these days.  When I worked as an educator, I truly felt that I was making a difference each day. These days, I have to be creative in order to achieve that same level of helping.  When looking for ways to fill a day, I have always found that the most rewarding tasks were those that supported others.  Some of my favorite jobs were those that allowed me to teach others a skill that they could then use to improve their own work.  Even hobbies seem more fun when they result in some form of assistance.  In fact, I think that our purpose in life is to do things for others.   What about you?  What do you do on a daily basis that supports or helps others? Does your work allow you to do so? Or perhaps you have hobbies or creative outlets that provide this outcome.  If you are reading this with skep...