"IN"-COURAGE AND ENCOURAGE

I challenge you to do one thing for seven days that scares you a little.

I started writing this piece a year ago and finally got the courage to finish it.

Courage is defined as the mental or moral strength to venture out, persevere and stand despite fear and real or perceived difficulty.

I am an avid walker, walking no less than five days a week. I enjoy the rhythm, quietness, and am amazed that my body allows itself to be used day after day in this manner. Even though I love the activity and am very disciplined about it, there are days when it takes every ounce of my mental strength to put on socks and shoes and push the garage door opener. It took courage to start walking way back when and it takes courage to continue on those days when my mental state or the weather is not conducive to doing so. I call these difficult days my “in”- courage days. Courage is acting despite what I feel or the circumstances. I understand why I feel the way I feel but refuse to allow my feelings to dictate my actions. Walking “in” – courage enables me to face the dim or dark early mornings of summer and the roaming deer with their doe.

On the other hand, there are days when the courage to get moving is no challenge at all. Things are going well until I approach Cathy’s, or Melanie’s, or Penny’s hill. I have named the hills in the neighborhood after the neighbors that live on them. That’s when I encourage, which means to spur on, myself.

After I have conjured up the courage to tackle anything, it is common to discover that encouragement is needed to continue. The encouragement can and often does come from within and can and often does come from other sources. I will freely admit that the “in” – courage posture is often the easier of the two. I can begin but staying on the course is another story.

In a nutshell, courage is the inward conviction one needs to face and begin a task. No one can give another person courage. People have been known to seek it from a bottle or drugs…false courage. Encouragement can come from within- sometimes you or I need to encourage ourselves. Other times encouragement comes from those surrounding us.

Galatians 6:9

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Ruth Gordon, “Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.”