Practicing Courage

Monday, January 9, 2017 No tags Permalink

Good things. All very good things. Well, except the part about “your heart expands when broken”. If that’s the case, my heart should be enormous by now.  💗 My therapist said something interesting to me the other day –“Even with all the things you’ve been through in your life, you never let any of those things harden you.” That made me laugh. I always saw that as stupidity, or the inability to learn my lesson.  She said it’s a beautiful and rare gift. Okay, but this “beautiful and rare gift” makes it awfully painful to live in this world most of the time.  I wish I wasn’t so sensitive, that I didn’t feel everything so deeply. It’s like trying to walk across a driveway of sharp gravel in your bare feet. If your feet are tough and calloused, you can do it with no problem. But if they’re not, each step is excruciating; it cuts and you bleed. That’s me. Tenderfoot. Tender heart. I’m still this same little girl at heart. 


I just started reading Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection.  I love her writing.

Practicing courage, compassion, and connection in our daily lives is how we cultivate worthiness. The key word is practice. Mary Daly, a theologian, writes, “Courage is like—it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: You get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging.” The same is true for compassion and connection. We invite compassion into our lives when we act compassionately toward ourselves and others, and we feel connected in our lives when we reach out and connect.

1 Comment
  • Debbie
    January 9, 2017

    You have this beautiful soul that shines through in all that you do. The fact that you haven’t let life make you hard is so rare. I know you don’t see it that way, but it’s a gift. I also know that people often take advantage of your tender heart, but please don’t ever stop being who you are because of other people’s behavior. That’s something inside you that no one can ruin. That, my dear heart, is true strength. I love you and miss you!!! XX

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