Day 12
Practice Courage
“Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences -- good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as ‘ordinary courage.'“
- Brene Brown
Artwork by Andrea Uchini
“To be courageous means to live with the heart... You cannot be truthful if you are not courageous. You cannot be loving if you are not courageous. You cannot be trusting if you are not courageous. You cannot inquire into reality if you are not courageous. Hence courage comes first and everything else follows...
The way of the heart is the way of courage. It is to live in insecurity; it is to live in love, and trust; it is to move in the unknown. It is leaving the past and allowing the future to be. Courage is to move on dangerous paths. Life is dangerous, and only cowards can avoid the danger—but then, they are already dead. A person who is alive, really alive, vitally alive, will always move into the unknown.”
- Osho
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage”
Bonus Osho Story:
When I was a small child at school there was a wrestling competition for the whole district; I have never been able to forget that incident. There was a wrestler, the most famous wrestler in those parts, who was defeated. He was going to be the champion, the district champion or something, and he was defeated by a totally unknown man!
The whole crowd laughed in ridicule, people enjoyed it like anything! And I was surprised, everybody was surprised; in a second everybody fell silent, because he also clapped and laughed… the man who had been defeated! He laughed so uproariously that the whole crowd fell silent in embarrassment; what was the matter with this man? And when they fell silent he laughed even more!
Later on I went to him; he was staying just in front of my house in a temple. And I said, ’This is strange – and I loved it! It was very unexpected!’
He said, ’It was so unexpected, that’s why I also laughed! It was really unexpected. I had never expected that I would be defeated by an ordinary man of whom nobody has ever heard! The whole thing was ridiculous, that’s why I laughed!’
But I have never been able to forget his face, the way he laughed and the way he clapped and the way the whole crowd fell silent. This man defeated the whole crowd and their ridicule… he participated! But great courage is needed! To me he was the winner, and I told him, ’I am a small child and I cannot say much, but to me you are the winner and I will remember you.’
After twenty years I visited his town and he came to see me. He was a very old man now, and he said ’Do you remember me? I have not been able to forget your face either – a small child coming to me and saying ”You are the real winner; the other is defeated.
You have defeated the whole crowd.” I have not been able,’ he said, ’to forget your face either.’ A great courage is needed in life to be yourself, in failure, in success, in appreciation, in condemnation, when you are going very high and when you are going very low… and all climates come.
- Osho
From his book, “Far Beyond the Stars”
Today’s Tuesday Workshop with Ryan Leier
Replay link - valid until midnight PST Wednesday, January 13th