How Courageous Are YOU?
April 7, 2016 by ThySista
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns
(ThySistas.com) Your Biggest Testimony of Courage Comes From Your Willingness to Look Inside of Yourself.
What comes to mind when you hear the word courage? Better yet, Whom?
When I hear the word courage, I immediately define it as standing firm in the midst of adversity.
When I think of whom, I envision a mother running to save or rescue her children who are standing in the path of danger—without premeditated thought or consideration. The courage this mother possesses goes beyond rational thinking or analysis. It hits at the heart of protection. Protection of those she loves.
I don’t know, maybe that’s just me, falling back on my maternal instinct. What about you? This view may resonate with you, maybe not. You may envision something totally different, and that’s okay.
What I have come to realize is that it’s perfectly okay to envision 
something surprisingly different than anyone else and that my view or opinion is based on my own experiences and frame of reference.
As I submerge myself in the journaling process, I am awakened to my need to consider other perspectives. What I have learned through this process of journaling is that my way is not always the right way. There are too many dynamics entwined in each interaction to deny ourselves the opportunity to truly understand why people do the things they do, then to assume our way is the best and only way. Journaling provides you the opportunity to uncover what is real and what is imagined.
I MUST WARN YOU
This journey of capturing thoughts will not be easy. This journey of reflection takes courage. It can be draining, revealing and humbling. Nevertheless, it is illuminating. It is necessary to shine light on ourselves, allowing us to see ourselves as we really are.
If progress is what we desire, we have to muster the courage it requires to be clear, to see clearly; where we are and how far we have come in order to move forward. It’s only through journaling that I have been able to do that.
Allow Me to Be Transparent…
I recently experienced a conflict with my husband, okay, a difference of opinion based on each of our responses to a particular situation. (Quite trivial, I might add, but sometimes, trivial situations bring out the need for reflection of self and our responsive behavior.)
This conflict could have easily sent me plummeting into my typical, well-rehearsed negative [and might I add] immature response. My ability to step back and analyze the situation through journaling provided me with an opportunity for reflection. My goal was to identify a pattern. The courageous part of this journey of discovery was that I intentionally opened myself up to what I would discover. In preparation, I offered myself the possibility that the pattern revealed might be one that uncovered flaws in my own behavior versus his. It is because of my own pattern revealed that this message is being created for you right now.
Your courage to look inside of yourself through this process of journaling will empower you to identify why you see things the way you do. Why you respond the way you do in particular situations, to particular people, and give you permission to see these scenarios through different eyes. To provide clarity of view; sometimes, as in my case, removing the veil that has been clouding your own view like steam from the shower on a bathroom mirror.
We’ve all heard the definition of insanity.
“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting ______________ _______________. See, I don’t even have to complete the sentence; you can fill in the blanks for yourself. I guarantee you, everyone who is reading this will fill in the blanks with the same response.
Are You Immersed in The Cycle of Insanity?
I will tell you, sanity comes from having the courage to look inside of yourself to see if, “Maybe it’s not everybody else…maybe it’s me.”
It’s not until we muster this courage, the courage that my example of the mother, having the courage, no matter the risk, to go after that which was important to her.
When we muster that level of courage, we are able to change who we have become to who God needs us to be. I am confident that my medal of courage is within reach.
Staff Writer; Pamela Byrd
Official website; http://www.pamelabyrd.com
One may also connect with this sister via Facebook; Boundaries Coach.
