If we believe that any of these things are the truth and the only truth of who we are, we will stay trapped in our stories.
Those are the patterns that are deeply ingrained in our subconscious mind and watch hopelessly as they take over our actions and our choices.
How do we access our own courage until we remember who we really are? How do we realize what we really want? How do we know how to contribute to our lives when we carry our old stories?
We can let go of our human drama. We can give up the stories that have ruled our lives and shatter the self-image we created to affirm our story. We can recognize and admit to the ways we have confirmed our story and colluded with our past. When we distinguish and let go of the beliefs that have kept us bound to the past we can move onto a greater future that is calling to us.
We can be willing to give up any version of the self that limits us so that we can't become the strong, powerful, courageous person we were born to be in our lives.
Life is filled with unlimited possibilities for who we can become. How can we be our courageous self when we find our selves fearful or stuck in some area. That is when we find ourselves frustrated, tired, bored, resigned, or unfilled.
It is with courage that we move forward dropping our backpacks of stories and memories down and leaving them to stay where they belong, in the past.
Courage takes risk, and most specifically, the willingness to let go of that oxygen mask of the past we thought we needed. To trust ourselves that there will be air to breath in
"the here and now."
We risk the journey to a higher ground where there is freedom from the gravitational pull of our stories, the pull that comes from years of trying to prove that the stories we tell ourselves, the ones we've made up, are the truth, when they are not.
In order to make the best choices, we can make a fundamental and radical shift. Rather than relating to courage as a resource that we tap into from time to time, we can allow courage to emerge and source our choices and infuse our lives. The choice is ours to make.
When we're standing in courage, we make powerful choices for ourselves. We are no long standing on the shaky ground of a false self-image and tell a story from the past that requires that struggle.
We tell ourselves the truth about whether our choices and if they make us feel weak, anxious, and insecure, or strong and powerful .
We ask ourselves, "Are our choices are coming from faith or are they coming from fear?"
Our power is internal, and courageous, we can become one who is unafraid of failure, setbacks or the disapproval of others. Rather than continue to gather new pieces of evidence to support our old stories and to validate them, we begin to shift, convincing ourselves that we are o.k. the way we are and that who we are today, is just right.
Knowing ourselves, honoring who we are and our spirit, identifying what we want, what we believe in, and not chasing our cravings for love, approval and attention, then settling for emotional crumbs. We can realize a self that is beautiful, empowered, scared, and a holy self without apology, without explanation, without trepidation.
Let the world see you and the magic of your dreams. In that, you can discover happiness.
Debbie Ford, Courage