The Courage to Change in 2008

Courage to Change

Hello Everybody,

I wanted to start this new year off a little different and instead of talking about goals and what we want to accomplish for the New Year, I want to talk about courage. I think courage is a word we don’t use very often anymore. Our society has almost forgotten what it means to live courageously. I would like to suggest that courage is a vital ingredient we need to drive our motivation to accomplish our goals. It is easy to say we want whatever it is we think we want at the beginning of the new year, but I would like to pose the question do we have the courage to risk actually getting what we want? I know many people that say they want something in their lives but then do not go after it. It takes courage to actually feel the fear and then walk through it. Most of us get caught up on what could happen wrong or negatively and we become stuck in the future which is the definition for anxiety when we start to worry about the “what ifs” of tomorrow when we are still here today. Whenever this happens we have lost ourselves and are no longer truly living in the present.

There are many different types of courage but they all lead to the same step of taking a risk and maybe doing something we have never done before or doing something we have done before and don’t like doing. Maybe it is the courage to do something different and make a change in our lives. This is never easy and the fear that surrounds some of our thinking keeps us stuck in patterns that only repeat themselves. This year I would like us to clean up our thinking and become true masters of our lives. When we can do this there is nothing we can’t have or attain.

Often times we are paralyzed by our own thoughts and conditioning about things. We have limited ourselves by our own beliefs. Think about it: You can’t accomplish something you don’t think is possible. You must be able to conceive of an idea before you can go out and achieve it. Wherever the mind goes the body will follow. This is well known in sports. We visualize the shot and the body responds in sort. So how do we get rid of all the negative thinking? Well first we must find the obstacles and conditioning that are keeping us stuck. For many this may not be easy because these thoughts grow like weeds and may have been growing for a long time and have taken root in our mind and we have come to accept some of them as fact or truth.

We must be courageous like a warrior and clear them out from the roots which have taken hold of our minds. This is where the help of a coach or therapist or even a very good and honest friend can help us. We need somebody who is objective and honest to work with us to tell us what they see is stopping us. Often times it is very apparent to somebody looking in from the outside but often they will not tell us unless we ask them, and even still many will not want to hurt our feelings.

If we our courageous and honest and want to look at ourselves to make the changes we say we want then this is absolutely necessary. It may hurt our pride for a brief second but this is the false self and if we want to be powerful we must be willing to hear something we perceive as negative, but if we see it for what it truly is, a gift, then we can accept it graciously and examine it. We now can be courageous and do something to change the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. Many times we have changed as we get older and just reexamining parts of ourselves and our thinking is enough to bring about the changes we need. We actually think differently than we did when we were in our thirties or twenties.

When we begin to own the whole of ourselves with all of our good and parts those that need work we become powerful. The more responsible we are for our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, the more we will feel powerful. This is a concept which many miss and it is worth repeating because it is the foundation of all successful people. As we take total responsibility for everything we think, feel, and do then we understand that the world is not working against us but with us. We are no longer helpless victims who life just happens to, but we are powerful co-creators of our life with the Universe. We cannot change the world or what happens, but we can change how we respond to the world and then the world changes in response.

This is the great secret that any successful person would share with you if you could get them alone in a room and pick their brain. It is not an accident or mere good fortune that has brought them the things they want. And if it was good fortune that brought them wealth, they won’t be able to sustain it unless they learn this principle. Successful people take ownership for their lives. They own it 100%. It is theirs and nobody can take it away from them. So this year I want us to be spiritual warriors and to take an honest and thorough inventory of ourselves and ask ourselves what it is we truly want out of life and then I want us to be courageous, and remember this doesn’t mean we are not afraid, because often times we are, and I want us to walk through this fear and to take our spiritual sword and cut away from the root anything that is holding us back from attaining our goals. Just like a business we must take stock of our inventory and let go of merchandise or stock which is damaged or broken or just taking up space. We must make room for new and better merchandise. Fear of letting go can cost us dearly. Fear has often been described as False Evidence Appearing Real but I would like to give you another acronym of Face Everything and Resolve.

We were not meant to live in fear and life is very short for us to keep putting off what we say we want. There are only 52 weeks in a year and if you spend one Saturday on only half of those weekends doing something good for yourself that is only 26 days. Most won’t do even that which probably brings our number way down to like 12 or 13. Let’s make 2008 a great year. Let’s live courageously and go after the things or situations we want. We can truly have anything we want if we would only give ourselves a chance. If you would like more information about this article or how to change your life please contact: George Castro, MFT at gccoaching@yahoo.com or check out his website at www.gccoaching.com George Castro is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well as Life Coach who specializes in personal and professional life transitions.