Courage

During my divorce a few years ago, getting out of bed was one of the hardest things to do. I wanted to just sleep and not deal with the everyday "stuff" that was waiting for me. "I'm wounded," I silently screamed. Well-meaning friends and family with their, "you will be fine," quotes, made me want to go into my back yard and scream bloody murder.

One night I happened to be mindlessly flicking channels and stayed on a documentary on Nelson Mandela. I was drawn in, by him saying, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but triumph over it.” How did he learn to be so courageous in the face of so much pain and fear? How did he have the courage to stand up for truth? How did he reconcile his faith in God when the apartheid policy was supported by the Dutch Reformed Church, who suggested that Afrikaners (white people) were God's chosen people and that blacks were a subservient species?

When Mandela arrived at the island -first words he heard spoken by the warden: "This is the Island. This is where you will die." Like, Wow - what a dire prophecy?! I started to search for any articles about him. I wanted to know his secret. I wanted to be courageous on my journey too.

I recently read this: “Courage is feeling fear, not getting rid of fear, knowing something is more important than fear and taking action.” It takes courage to live with a wounded heart, to be vulnerable, to be present in our situation all the while choosing to forgive and to love. 

Nelson Mandela did that while living in a small cell without a bed or plumbing, he was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He could write and receive a letter once every six months, and once a year he was allowed to meet with a visitor for 30 minutes. He led a movement of civil disobedience at the prison that coerced South African officials into drastically improving conditions on Robben Island. That's actually not normal. I want to be not normal.

Don't let fear steal your joy, peace, and wellbeing. Overcome fear by realizing that all fear is nothing but a state forgetfulness — forgetting your Truth, forgetting your Worth, forgetting your Power, forgetting your Wisdom, forgetting your Purpose, and forgetting your Source.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of self-confidence.” ~ 2 Timothy 1:7