"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S.Eliot
We had summer solstice this week and in old traditions it basically means the time of year when the energies peak, the light is revealed and strongest, and our own strength cumulates.
As a woman, I could compare it to ovulation. Ovulation is the phase of the cycle when hormones, energy, confidence reach the top and make it possible to create a new life. All is aligned in favor of creation. Summer solstice then, is the time when we may feel and experience a similar strength, energy or courage to take a leap of faith, step into unknown, go beyond our own limitations. Somehow we are better equipped around that time and fueled by the light, we don't focus on the dark side of the issue as much as we tend when the light is scarce.
Such was the week I experienced, the week when I did and said things I didn't even think I could.
Courage is a common denominator of any change.
It is a little shift in the way you do things, a slightly different approach or just an impression that you follow through. Courage is not a big, elaborate expression. At least not in my experience. It was always that one little act or thought that gave birth to something great much later.
Look at it not as a drop in the ocean but rather as a spark in a haystack!
Long time ago I heard one theory and this week I heard it again from my friend. If you feel an urge to do something, an inspiration, impulse, you have to act on it within 20 seconds or so. You have to do anything to "materialize" it otherwise the spark dies out.
If you feel like helping the person in front of you, do it. And if you don't know how, just ask if there is anything you can do for them.
If you see a piece of rubbish on the ground and the feelings of uneasiness or compassion for the world we live in rise up, pick it up and throw it into the bin yourself.
If you like the guy sitting next to you on the bus, smile or just compliment his shoes. :-)
Do any little thing you can at the moment of "inception". Don't analyze it beforehand.
That little spark is the courage that may ignite something greater.
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C.S.Lewis
And so to share with you a little bit of my own experience this week, en-couraged by the light that came with the solstice, here is where it took me.
I was able to say I was lonely to a friend (I actually never said that out loud before and now I am even sharing it with the world).
I was curious to play with miracles (and I found out that the less attached you are to the result, the faster they manifest in your life. And they did!)
I asked for guidance and mentoring and expressed my desire to learn more in the field (and I mean I literally said to the person "please, teach me!").
I asked for a help.
I approached a person who might teach me about love (a person I never met or talked to before - that's actually the top of my courage this week, especially since love is the thing that can make me vulnerable again).
This is the spark that does not necessarily make sense in the beginning. The spark that might be difficult to be expressed. But if you play with it, direct it by acting upon it, you may experience incredible things and maybe save yourself from a fire that would burn you otherwise in some other way.
Try the 20-second theory this week and see how it makes you feel or where it takes you.
Courage used to be a virtue. Now it seems to be something long forgotten. We forget a piece of it every time we fail to notice our own beating heart.
The word courage comes from old Latin word cor which means heart, the seat of emotions and life. For me, courage is taking a step forward despite the risk of losing something. As you take that step, you most likely lose a piece of your ego in return for your heart - a living beating heart. Here is to the fullness of the life we long for!
Camino Called Life
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