Happiness Resolution: Patience...AKA Courage

On my journey of discovery, I started the week focusing on patience. Why I have so little sometimes...how can I get more? Well, I haven't found those answers yet but what I have discovered is that in order to improve my patience I need to practice courage.  I'm not talking about the patience it takes to wait in a long line or maneuver through rush hour traffic. I'm thinking about the patience it takes to navigate major life changes, to live in the present and not the past or the future.

When you think of courage what pops in your head? You might first think of courage as bravery in the heroic sense. Our military, firemen, policemen, they are all brave and very courageous. They risk their lives regularly saving other people. That is extraordinary courage. But what about ordinary courage? What if courage also means to be brave enough to carry on after a painful loss? To say "I don't know" when you are expected to know? To admit failure when success seems the only option? What if courage is patiently waiting for something and knowing it might never happen? What if courage is facing an uncertain future and being brave enough to take those first steps? What if courage is simply trying again...and again...and again?

Courage requires vulnerability, being willing to put yourself out there and trust you won't be destroyed in the process.  Possibly we experience anxiety over vulnerability because we see it as a weakness. In ourselves it might feel like a failure because we expected to be strong and able to do whatever was needed and that isn't what happened. Seeing vulnerability in others might inspire empathy, pity, sadness. I think we practice courage in these times by looking for the possible positive outcomes, by providing support to others and letting them know they aren't alone.

I watched an interview recently with the parents of a young boy who had been bullied in school and committed suicide. I watched those parents be courageous and vulnerable as they told their story. They were ordinary parents who did everything they could to nurture and protect their child and yet it wasn't enough. They were struggling with acceptance and trying to create something positive out of their loss and I realized that is what courage is to me...that quiet little voice that says "I will try again tomorrow".

What does courage mean to you?