Courage Dear One
A New Year. New promises and new hope for the coming year as fresh as the fallen snow on the ground outside my front door. A new decade to embrace with open arms as we say goodbye to all of our failures and set-backs and wave hello to new adventure and excitements and dreams for our future.
Sometimes, moving forward isn’t so easy. Sometimes leaving the pain in the past is easier said than done. Often it feels a little more comforting to hold on to what ales our hearts and souls if for the very sense that those memories provide a sense of control. Letting go is scary. It’s hard. It’s unknown. It means giving up on the mental and spiritual war that sometimes rages inside ourselves. It means surrendering the struggles and opening ourselves to renewal.
But maybe letting go of the past isn’t quite as simple as talking about it. Maybe you’re stuck in a lingering state of confusion and unknown. Wondering how to tie together both the hurt from the past and the hope for the future…not sure what the “next right thing” possibly is -let alone- how to get there.
Can I share a little secret with you? Pain comes with a price tag. Our very faults have all led us to a place of abandon. We have sought redemption in places that forsook us. And the consequences of our own actions have left us emptier than the choices we once believed would be the very thing to fulfill us.
Dear One, if you are hurting? If you are lost in this new year desiring to begin anew? If your failures haunt you in your thoughts and dreams and the uncertainties of your future consume you, there is a greater hope. Lay down your weapon of warfare, your hurt and confusion, your betrayals and fears. Let go of your mistakes and allow your tears to flow. And when they dry, when your eyes are clear again and the sun begins to peer from the clouds in your sky, look up. And remember…courage.
For courage is the ability to have strength in the face of pain. Courage means waking with an attitude of gratitude when it feels nearly impossible to be thankful. Courage means asking for help and hope when you are afraid to speak the words out loud. Reach beyond your own fears and confusions , my friend. Walk into the next decade with fresh courage and new hope for the healing that is to come.
“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
Sir Winston Churchill