COURAGE

I have been thinking a lot lately about courage; what it really means, how to get it, and how to maintain it. There are two main reasons why: I was fortunate enough to read Osho’s book on Courage over the summer (and re-read parts constantly since then), and I believe that courage is essential for the times that we are living in.

I can’t remember a time when I was so bombarded by so many messages, most of which are disingenuous and designed not to really enhance my life (or yours), but to sell me something, or convince me that something essential is missing in my life. I have news for these messengers: my life is perfect as it is right now.  That is exactly how I feel as we propel toward the end of 2016.  That’s not to say that I can’t think of ways to improve my life, or learn something new. In fact, I already have a growing mental list of the things I want to experience in 2017, the new skills I want to acquire, and the ideas that I hope to share with the world. If I didn’t aspire to grow as a person, I might as well be dead!

It has been a tumultuous 2016, and I suspect that the assault of information may actually intensify. In the face of this assault, courage is essential.

So how can we develop and sustain courage?

 

1. Trust your gut feeling. If something does not feel right to you, just don’t do it. It doesn’t matter if it seems like the most logical thing in the world, or if everyone around you urges you to do it.  That translates into your willingness to let go of people and things that may be convenient and long-standing, but are actually harmful to your emotional and physical health.
2. Observe how the collective consciousness has been polluted. The cultural norms, the things most people believe in, have been co-opted by those on the left and the right; the result is a polluted and polarized collective consciousness. Their mission is not to enhance your life; their mission is to force you to believe what they do, and to control you.  It’s really that simple. It may be hard to see  and accept this, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
3. Appreciate how you create your own world with your thoughts. It’s called the holographic theory of existence, and it is becoming more and more evident. Simply stated, it suggests that we create our own universe with our thoughts- and that our so-called reality is individual, self-created, and subject to our own control.  This is now the gateway to personal freedom, but requires tremendous awareness, effort, and patience to make it work.
4. Share everything you know freely with everyone who crosses your path. Don’t hold back. This letting go of needed information not only benefits the recipient (whose life you improve), but you as well: it re-enforces the mindset that what you need will come to you, which is an essential element of courage.
5. Become familiar with “oneness.” This runs so contrary to the poisonous hatred being pumped out into people’s minds all around the world, so it’s essential to know something else exists. That something else is oneness, and it is a theory that underneath all the apparent separation and divisiveness is one human spirit, and the seeming conflict, divisions, and hatred that exist are an illusion, and a product of a low level of consciousness.  I know that’s a lot to accept, but I firmly believe it to be true.  Once you accept this, you can project love onto everything and everyone that comes your way.  And a by-product of this: Courage is yours forever when you get to this point!