Different Faces of Courage

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

I loved this quote when I saw it on my pastor's FB page - just goes to show that sometimes the strongest and hardest thing you can do is to be quiet and do nothing but LISTEN and LEARN. I have blogged many times about listening and how very few people these days know how to TRULY listen to someone.

I think most people think of courage as Russell Crowe in Gladiator - fighting lions and barbarians, but we don't often connect the idea of courage to quietness, listening and retreating......however, sometimes that takes MORE courage than fighting.

There are people in your life who once were a healthy component to your world, but are no longer a good influence - it takes tremendous courage to realize that and to do what is best for you and retreat, protecting what you are exposed to and how it affects you. I have had to do this several times at pivotal times in my life and it is HARD and it HURTS, even though I knew it was the best thing for me.

And this courage concept doesn't just apply to people, but to organizations you are involved in, the workplace, family members, etc. At very stressful times in my life, I made sure that I stayed vigilant about what I was exposed to and what my environment was. I believe you become a product of your environment, so you should be very careful of what you watch on TV, what kind of music you listen to on a regular basis, who your friends are, what religious beliefs you subscribe to, what kind of workplace you are in, etc. All of those things shape who you are and in what direction you are going. Sometimes it takes great courage to make changes in those areas so that what you surround yourself with aligns with your beliefs and goals for the future. Courage isn't all about the fight!