The stories we choose to tell ourselves about ourselves and our lives dictate who we are and what we are capable of as we live. So, to reclaim courage, we must look closely at the events that are tucked away in our unconscious. We must revisit the past and bring awareness and closure to it so that we can be released from the stranglehold of insecurity, fear, and regret.
However it happens all of us create a story about our own lives defined by the events we did not know how to digest. Unfortunately, many of the incidents buried in our story were painful experiences. Our interpretations of these events and experiences create patterns woven through our beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and especially our fears.
Although the patterns were created in the past, they do not stay there. Transporting these patterns into the present unconsciously, we create self imposed limitations and unknowingly make decisions that influence the rest of our lives. The effects of our choices are pervasive and often leave us feeling weak, shameful, and cowardly.
If we have been weak, scared and stuck,
then we continue to see ourselves as weak, scared and stuck.
When we attempt to step out of the confines of the self we believe ourselves to be, especially anything beyond the roles that we know, we get stopped in our tracks--confined by the limitations that have arisen from our very own story.
Scared, wounded and often traumatized we wrap ourselves in a false self image for protection. This false self is perfectly at home and being defined in simplistic and narrow terms. The old self image with its outdated operating manual, continues to get churned out by our subconscious mind and continuously projected into the outer world.
It is only when we wake up inside the shell
of the image we have created
and find the willingness
to step outside of it
that
a courage floods into our lives
and we are able to make conscious choice
that will further
our highest vision for a powerful life.
Courage - Debbie Ford