If you are a person who thinks that you should be more successful in whatever area in your life, then this article is for you. Courage is a big word. When someone is striving to make something out of their life and takes a leap at the behest of his social group, then this is courage.
There are 2 aspects of courage I will discuss in this article. The first one is making the leap. Humans by nature are pack animals. We tend to hang around each other and have the same habits as each other. We follow the same teams, we dress the same way, we drive the same cars, etc. We play the game of follow the follower. We work on the same construction sites as each other. We become guards for example because my best friend is a guard and my father was a guard. Unfortunately humankind lives in a bubble. When you start to really become aware and you will become increasingly aware the longer you immerse yourself in personal development, you will see that in one sense we live in a controlled society.
We live in a society where the mantra is to go to school, get good grades, work until your 65 and then enjoy the fruits of your labour. This train of thought is injected into a child from 6 years old. This idea through the child’s parents, friends and surroundings sticks and before long, he realises that he is in the first stage of this cycle which is to go to school and get good grades so he can advance his career.
From the moment the child accepts this as his lot in life, his creativity and personality are immediately diminished. Therefore it takes a brave child to step out of the ordinary. All his life, he has been taught to be obedient. He respects his parents and loves them dearly so therefore is very obedient as he doesn’t want to frequently upset them. He goes to school, starting aged 4 or 5, again being caught up in a vice like grip of conformity, again accepting that this is the way of life and he again needs to number 1, obey his teachers and number 2 become like the rest of the children as the worst feeling a new child can have when he enters school is to not be liked.
The child in question is in school until 18 years of age. The thing that I don’t necessarily like about school is the competitiveness between the students. Sometimes the parents are even more competitive. When one lives in a competitive state, then all creativity and genius is lost. You are never competing with anyone. You are alone in the world, there is nobody like you, you are totally unique by design. I have a young son in school at the moment and of course I will mentor him to the best of my ability but he will also understand from me that school is not the be all and end all. It is merely a place to learn and I wholeheartedly agree whatever you are involved in in any given moment in time, you should strive to give your best.
My message to my son will be “Son while you’re there, get the information and learn, it may serve you in the long run”. For me courage is following your heart and doing something which is alien to the people around you. What gets you excited?. What get your juices flowing?. What would you to like to do with your life?. To do what everybody else is doing but then one day you decide to follow your heart, to me that is courage. As I said previously we live in a Follow the Follower society.
Not many want to break rank as it may be too big of a risk. The irony now in this world crisis that we are experiencing is that many private sector job holders especially are being laid off and now are currently on welfare. Its all on how you look at the world, stay safe or take a risk but ultimately in today´´s society is a job safe?. Only you can answer that question. Sometimes a good question to ask yourself is what do you fear?. I say this because usually in Life it is the thing they you fear that is the thing you want to do in life. It is a good starting point. Do you fear public speaking, do you fear success, do you fear failure, do you fear humiliation, do you fear going broke.
I am trying merely here to provoke a reaction from you and if there is anything I have learned in Life, it is that action cures fear. Are you going to walk softly to your grave not confronting your fears?. Do you think that is ethical, is it prudent?. Will you learn who you are by taking that route. Guys, running away from problems and fears will only serve one thing in your life, it will mean that you will live small. I truly realise that this is a problem for people and it comes from our conditioning.
We are not taught to speak up. Since you have been born, you have been controlled and taught to be obedient. Then when you need to grown wings and leave the nest, it can be a lonely place as you were never shown on how to have courage. Guys, its an inside job and the moment you start, you will get better at it. You will start to build muscle and by building muscle, I mean you will training your mind to always behave in this state. A state of certainty and courage.
To give you an example, if your child is being bullied in front of your very own eyes and the other child´s parents are not saying a thing, I think its safe to say that you will intervene. You intervened because your child was involved. People will usually step up to the mark when there is something more important in their eyes involved. Therefore if you are a parent or if not, a loving son or daughter, you always need to stand up for what is right. If you don´t have the courage in the moment to do it for yourself, think of a third party to get you to act. As I said, this is all about building muscle.
The start is the most difficult. When you have those moments when you know you should be doing or saying something , you need to step up to the mark. Your leadership skills are inside you but you have been conditioned to behave like a drone. Don´t do it, yea feel the fear, it will always be there but overcome it, you can overcome it, always believe that. The second time a moment of leadership is demanded, assuming you have been successful the first time, the second time will be far easier, there will not be as much of a delay in thinking what are you going to say or do. You will act instinctively which is what we want. This is the first form of courage. Fears are to be welcomed. Any time you have a fear, it is an opportunity for growth in your life. Personally I would love to encounter a new fear daily as I would need to grow to over come them.
All I can say is that if you are a fearful person, write down your fears and list them in their order of potency. Take one fear at a time and tackle it head on. Life is about learning, the more you can learn, the more successful you will be in all areas of your life. Fear stops people from learning. Fear keeps people in a rut as if one day is identical to the next. Every day should be different. You must step up to the mark. The truth will set you free. You are not on this earth to be liked nor disliked. You are here to be you, to live the life that you always wanted to live. Have the courage to do that. You will be an inspiration to the masses, the person who stood up for what was right and followed their heart. We all know the difference between right and wrong but only a few walk the path. You be the one to walk the path. The Japanese have a saying about the secret of success in Life and it is “Know Thy Self”.
All you have to do is be who you are. Live how you want to live, say and act how you want. This is the only way to personal fulfillment. So my question that I leave you with is “Are you being true to yourself”?. Are you living the life you want because if you´re not it is your fault. If you´re not, all you have to do is make a decision and act! Have a good think about it. God Bless!
