Courage Doesn't Always Roar

Mary Anne Radmacher, a Portland-based writer and artist, who leads workshops on living a full, creative, balanced life said, "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

It often surprises me when the quote I need finds me. As I work to build my business and a life that supports who I am, I often get discouraged about not being there yet. I was talking to an adviser the other day and told her that I am trying to move into more of a zen-like perspective. She almost choked on her drink knowing how prone I am to judging and being impatient with myself.

What I meant by a zen-like state is similar to what I experience when I am meditating.

My meditating isn't very elaborate but I do find it restorative. I simply sit in a cross-legged position and focus on my breathing. All kinds of thoughts come and go while I go into more of a meditative state. At first, the thoughts come bombarding in left and right. As I let my thoughts flow through without judgement, I begin to let go of what the thoughts are about. My focus becomes more relaxed but focused. (Does that make sense?)

It is in that state of being relaxed but focused that I find the greatest sense of what I call being in a zen-like state.

This is the kind of state I am trying to bring to the way I create and work on my business. I often find myself getting stressed out about whether I am going to be able to get this thing off the ground. That is the opposite of the relaxed but focused state I am seeking.

That is when courage comes in. I have not yet reached the state where I feel I am being successful in my business. I also realize, as my adviser pointed out to me, that worrying about success and judgement really aren't zen-like state of mind. It is more about letting go and letting the thoughts and experiences happen without judgement.

In a biblical sense, it's like what Jesus said, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?... Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

In other words, don't worry about it. Things will work out.