11 Jun Courage to take action
Changing thoughts into action
There are times when it takes courage to take action. You may have a brilliant idea and wonder why nobody has thought of it before, and it takes courage to put that thought, or idea into action. Maybe somebody has, or somebody else will take the necessary action in the future if action is not taken now. Courage, confidence, foresight – character traits never reside alone.
Taking action is a teachable moment
When you dare to take action and take a leap of faith, you learn something new. You learn that you are far more capable than you may have given yourself credit for, and what required a bit of courage wasn’t that bad after all. Whatever the action and whatever the outcome, you will learn from the experience. You will discover that your confidence grows gradually as the more you take action and the more familiar you become at taking action, the easier it is to continue to take action.
You may discover there are parts of your overall action that require fine tuning, and therefore, you make small adjustments that help you to become better at whatever it is you choose to do.
Holding back
When you want to try something new, it is often fear that holds you back from taking action. Fear dissipates when action is taken. The fear you had in your head is usually not as bad as what you anticipated when you find the courage to take action.
Having said that, sometimes it is, but when action is not taken then control is also relinquished, whether you meant for that to happen or not.
Think about it, if you want a new job but don’t take action to obtain a new job, or take up the new job offer when it arises then you relinquish control to a certain degree – for now at least.
Facing your fears
Fear and courage go hand in hand. If you fear something, you need the courage to address your situation whatever it is. Action is not taken due to fear of what may happen. While your concerns may be valid, they also may just be negative thoughts that are holding you back. Consequently, you could spend a lot of time worrying about something that may never come to pass.
On the other hand, there are times when you do need to balance your courage with wisdom and instinct and be mindful not to place yourself in situations that are not beneficial to you.
Trusting yourself, by trusting your gut instinct, is something that should never be underrated. Gut instinct is something we are all born with, and for some reason, in most situations, it fades as you grow. Listen to what your body is telling you, listen to what your fleeting thoughts are sharing with you. Trust yourself.
Courage grows
Courage is something that grows. Your nerve starts off small and builds over time as the realisation that you can do a thing or several things that at first were a bit scary, but you faced the challenge, and your confidence grew as well as your courage.
Being bold is required at different times of our life, starting when you were young and it was, and continues to be, needed at different ages and different stages of your life. You have courage. You’ve used it before. You may not think of yourself as courageous, but you are. I can guarantee there is a time in your life when you practised it. You just need to remember that time, so close your eyes for two minutes and think of a time when you exercised courage. I’ll bet there are probably many times that you could choose from.
Courage is something that is transferrable and can be pulled out from within when you need it. Courage is a form of growth.
At times people do courageous things without even thinking about it, such as running into a burning house to rescue someone or approach a car accident without knowing if it’s going to explode as they run towards it. Courage can also mean walking away from a tense situation such as someone who is wanting to pick a fight, or leaving an environment where domestic violence has raised it’s ugly head.
The downside to courage
Unfortunately, there are times when people have taken action and placed themselves in danger. There are times when young adults have succumbed to peer pressure and taken a drug that has resulted in their own death; there are times when people have trusted strangers and taken up the offer of a lift and then been abused and even murdered.
There are times when others have risked their own lives to pull a stranger from a burning house, or standing up for others who were being bashed or mistreated. People have died either from poor choices they make or courageous decisions they have made. As a result, it impacts on the lives of those that love them. You never know who has been affected by what so always – be kind, be kind, be kind.
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