"Strength Within" © 1998  ~  oil and pastel by Carol E. Fairbanks

" Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."
                                                                                    ~ Ambrose Redmoon

                                 Support for My Journey

Having enough courage to support me through the life changes that shake up my existence  cannot be willed forth. It must come naturally out of the core beliefs I hold about my life and the part I play in my service to the whole of creation.  As long as I am "jousting" with that external "enemy" and relishing my role as "victim", the courage I need for those events, that evolve my soul, will continue to elude me.  Author, Wayne Dyer, says in his writings that most of us are "looking for occasions where we can be offended." He believes that "we bond ourselves to our wounds, and that we would fare much better if we gave up our personal history", that often says that we are unloveable, poor, and victimized by our life experience. In response, we often either choose to fight in anger, run in flight or freeze our hearts so that no one can touch us.

That strategy, as it plays out,  is not the true senario of who we are, but it might as well be, because it prevents us from seeing the rich opportunities of love and prosperity that offer themselves to us in the present.  Rather than deciding to fight, flee or freeze, we can choose to go with the flow and shift our attention from all thoughts of limitation and separation to those empowering thoughts that bring forth the fullest potential in each one of us!.  That power within from which we create is, in fact, limitless, because we are always connected to that Source that created us. All spiritual wisdom traditions confirms this, stating that all the attributes of the Creator are within each of us.  We hear about our spiritual soul, give "lip service" to God's blessings and grace, and are taught to see that "good" in greeting others with "Namaste".  ("I honor that Light within you!)   But until we move that awareness from our  "heads" down to our "hearts", we stay bound to those old wounds of the past.  And that, my friends, will influence greatly just what will continue to "waltz" into your life... over and over again.... giving your heart one opportunity after another to finally open to a truer way of believing.

Wayne Dyer in Ten Secrets for  Success and Inner Peace, says that we would be much happier ...and courageous... if we would "treasure our divinity and seek out our connection our Source, instead of being terrified by it."  The words of Marianne Williamson, made famous in a speech by Nelson Mandela, tell us, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us."

If that is true, then it is no wonder that we at times appear to lack access to our courage.  If we are frightened of and deny that wellspring of courage within, then how can we possibly make use of it when we need it. Williamson states that we can repair that severed lifeline "by refusing to play small and start acting as if we were, indeed, that child of God that we are." She further says, "As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."  Now what a world that would be with the illumination of all the "light"!

I believe this is our true destiny... a world where everyone lets their true light shine brightly.  And as those higher vibrations of goodness and love lighten up the dark corners of our world, one heart at a time, we will finally have the wisdom we need to judge what is really important and ultimately connect with each other, as lovingly as our Creator "connects" with us. Together, believing and acting in that truth, is where we can find our courage.

                                         
                                                                                        

"A Helping Hand" © 1998 ~ oil & pastel by Carol E Fairbanks