4 KEYS to Developing Courage

4 KEYS to Developing Your Courage nnCourage is not the absence of fear. It is the strength to be who and what you are-- despite the fear! Here are steps we can take to develop courage and let go of the fears that stop us from achieving our goals. nn1. Recognize the fear. Don’t make excuses and call it something else.nYou cannot overcome or move through your fear if you don’t recognize it as such. You can blame someone else, you can call it impossible or you can just admit that you are afraid. Once you admit that fear is operating, you can begin to change it. nn2. Gain understanding from the fear. What am I basing this fear on? Choose to see a deeper truth.nWe experience fear when we believe the lies that our ego is telling us. We believe what we have accepted as truth either consciously or unconsciously. What do you believe as true?nnThere is a story about a family that would get together for holidays and special occasions and fix a roast of beef. Each time they would make it they would prepare it the same way. They would take the roast and cut off on both ends and place it in the pan. This was a tradition that was handed down from mother to daughter to daughter, etc., until finally one day, one of the daughter’s husbands asked her, “Why do you cut off both ends of the roast?” She replied that her mother had always done it that way, “Let’s go ask her.” And so they went and asked her mother, and she replied that it was because that’s the way her mother had always done it. They decided to ask grandma. When they asked her, she replied, “Because that’s the way my mother always did it. I don’t do it that way any more; we only did it that way because the pan was too little to hold it.” nnSee the untruth in the fear that you have held. What rules have you set for yourself? Do you want to keep living by them? You are the chooser.nn3. Commit to Courage. Declare the deeper truth. Persistently reprogram yourself for success and courageous actions. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.nn4. Face the fear. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Honor your courage. Take action.n• Honor yourself every time you face a fear. Especially the little ones.n• Courage is built one success at a time. You are successful every time you try!n• Once you have admitted it is only fear holding you back, you can move through it. Move right through the middle like a courageous warrior.n• Parachutes weren't proven trustworthy by having people carry them around on their backs. The device showed its worth once someone jumped.nnn2 BONUS KEYS to be able to develop your confidence:nn1. Know Your Greatest Ally. Would you go into battle unprepared and alone? Would you go into a football game without a game-plan, or without a coach? Would an athlete compete without preparation? You can develop a relationship with your Divine Self. In order to have more courage, you must trust that there is more to you than your ego’s strengths and abilities. You must know that guidance is available to you, because you have experienced it.nn• Know and develop your true spiritual courage.n• Develop a deeper understanding of yourself as an instrument with a mission and deeper purpose.n• Develop a deeper understanding of One as Divine Nature n• When you really start to know yourself as Divine Eternal Spirit you realize there is nothing to fear, nothing can destroy you, nothing can harm you, and nothing can stop you.n• There is a solution to every challenge.nnn2. Invest in knowing your Spiritual Self. In the long run, it is all you have and your success, happiness, and peace in the world is directly related to this, your greatest relationship. In this you can depend.nInvest in gaining knowledge. This can save you years by learning from others that have walked the path. Most people spend more on entertainment than on their spiritual development and their lives reflect it. nWhat you value is where you spend your money. Where do you spend your money?nMake time for personal spiritual practices. nnAncient Axiom: nHe who has no personal knowledge but has only heard of many things cannot understand ndeeper truth, even as the spoon has no idea of the taste of soup.nnwww.janettemariefreeman.comn