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Today's
quotation:
Courage begins when we can admit that there is no
life without some pain, some frustration; that there is no tragic
accident to which we are immune; and that beyond the normal exercise
of prudence we can do nothing about it.
But courage goes on to see that the triumph of life is not in
pains avoided, but in joys lived completely in the moment of their
happening. Courage lies
in never taking so much as a good meal or a day of health and fair
weather for granted. It
lies in learning to be aware of our moments of happiness as sharply as
our moments of pain. We
need not be afraid to weep when we have cause to weep, so long as we
can really rejoice at every cause for rejoicing.
Victoria Lincoln
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Today's
Meditation:
Most
of the courageous people whom I've known have not been the
"heroes" that people in our culture tend to put up
on pedestals in order to worship. The truly courageous
people have been the students who persevere despite serious
learning differences; the people who fight their ways
through depression or anxiety in order to create fulfilling
lives; the people who have been able to stand up to others
who are doing wrong, simply because standing up to them is
the right thing to do.
I see courageous people all the time in their wheelchairs or
wearing their prosthetic limbs; but there are many more
courageous people whom I never recognize because I can't
tell that they just lost a loved one or that they've just
been told that they have a very serious illness. These
people don't let their circumstances control them--rather,
they continue doing what they know is right in spite of all
obstacles or problems.
And as Victoria notes, sometimes courage is just having fun
and enjoying ourselves. Some of us are afraid to let
go and feel joy because of the fear that it will be ripped
away if we do so--and it takes a great deal of courage to
allow ourselves to revel in that joy. (This is a very
common symptom of Adult Children of Alcoholics, or adult
children of
parents with other addictive behaviors, by the way.)
We
will have the down times. We will face pain and
suffering in our lives. Being happy isn't a question
of avoiding pain--which most of us spend much of our time
trying to do--but in dealing with that pain and learning
from it and moving on with our lives so that we can become
inspirations to others who may look to us for inspiration.
Our
lives are filled with wonderful moments, sometimes
exciting wonderful moments, sometimes peaceful, quiet
wonderful moments. Even some of our painful times
are wonderful moments, for they help us to learn to
appreciate the times that aren't painful, the days of
health and fair weather.
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