I have recently taken the pledge to do the 7 Day Plan on the Seven Wonders website I have mentioned in previous posts. I have so much on my plate already it is taking me several days to do one day's worth of reading and answering questions.(Yes, I am on the Tortoise Program). I encourage you to do this, too. For those of you familiar with 12 Step programs, it is akin to taking a moral inventory in the fourth step. Even with all the "program" and years of professional counseling plus being active in church I have under my belt, I am amazed at how much I still need to take a closer look at inside. You can access the plan at:
The first segment is: Inviting Courage into Your Life.
What first comes to your mind when you think of the word courage? I always think of the Cowardly Lion's song in The Wizard of Oz movie. "What have they got, that I haven't got? Courage!" It takes courage to thrive in this world. It takes courage to make course corrections as we go along life's journey, whichever path we choose to take. It takes courage to even admit we need a course correction. It takes courage to live our religion if we have one, to take a stand for what we believe, to take a stand and speak out against the evils of our day. For some of us, just waking up and getting out of bed to face another day takes courage.
Dr. Keith Ablow says in the Seven Wonders book; "Our courage is tested when we resist taking the easy way out or giving in to negative patterns that we know in our hearts will harm us, damage other people, or show disrespect to institutions, callings, or causes that we care about. Being tested can be incredibly painful. That's why courage so often keeps company with fear and doubt. It's the force that allows you to move forward, despite understandable fears and doubts, one small step at a time". He goes on to use the story of Esther in the Bible who risked her life to save her people and senator Daniel Webster who did his utmost to prevent the Civil War as wonderful examples of courage. He states in the 7 Day Plan: "Change always involves some measure of suffering. That's why human beings tend to avoid it, sometimes limiting themselves for their whole lives. It takes courage to discover oneself and embrace that person."
The scariest question asked in this section for me was: What does one person close to me think I could do to substantially improve my existence? Blake's answer for me was: "Take immediate responsibility for my actions." Yup. Whenever my husband calls me on something, I almost always get very defensive and deny or explain it rather than either just acknowledging I messed up, if I truly have or calmly disagree with his assessment and move on.
The number one area of "change" I am currently working on is regular, daily exercise. This has been a mountain in my path for a long time. I am involved in Dr. Stan Gardner's Ease On Down weight loss program and doing just about everything in it BUT the daily exercise part! The most I can do is maybe three or four days in a row and then I skip almost a week, then go back to it.
Why is this such a struggle for me you ask? Laziness could be part of it. Yet, as most things that impede our progress, it stems from issues in the past. I spent my whole childhood trying to spend as much time "out" of my body as possible so as not to feel physical and emotional pain. One of my nicknames at home was "Double Ugly". Although the family member who called me that was only teasing, it only reinforced the ugliness and unworthiness I already felt inside. As a young child I could not understand that bad things that happened to me were not my fault, nor that of my body. I know today that I did not cause them, nor did I deserve them, but there is still some sadness that is released when I use my body and realize that I no longer have a valid reason to hate it. It is my friend, not my enemy. That means I have to look squarely at who harmed me and give that responsibility back to them and process whatever leftover sadness, anger, regrets, disillusionment, etc that remains for me. That is still an internal war going on for me and so I resist physical activity that brings up those emotions and validates and increases positive things about my body. I have learned to look people in the eye for at least a few minutes at a time and slowly but surely am tackling this exercise "mountain".
Here are a couple of scriptures I found regarding courage:
It boils down to this: I need to accept the things I really am responsible for and let go of those that I am not and realize that God will help me in that endeavor. So, what areas of your life are you needing to exhibit courage in?
May God strengthen you and give you the courage you need to help you scale your own mountains,
Dr. Keith Ablow says in the Seven Wonders book; "Our courage is tested when we resist taking the easy way out or giving in to negative patterns that we know in our hearts will harm us, damage other people, or show disrespect to institutions, callings, or causes that we care about. Being tested can be incredibly painful. That's why courage so often keeps company with fear and doubt. It's the force that allows you to move forward, despite understandable fears and doubts, one small step at a time". He goes on to use the story of Esther in the Bible who risked her life to save her people and senator Daniel Webster who did his utmost to prevent the Civil War as wonderful examples of courage. He states in the 7 Day Plan: "Change always involves some measure of suffering. That's why human beings tend to avoid it, sometimes limiting themselves for their whole lives. It takes courage to discover oneself and embrace that person."
The scariest question asked in this section for me was: What does one person close to me think I could do to substantially improve my existence? Blake's answer for me was: "Take immediate responsibility for my actions." Yup. Whenever my husband calls me on something, I almost always get very defensive and deny or explain it rather than either just acknowledging I messed up, if I truly have or calmly disagree with his assessment and move on.
The number one area of "change" I am currently working on is regular, daily exercise. This has been a mountain in my path for a long time. I am involved in Dr. Stan Gardner's Ease On Down weight loss program and doing just about everything in it BUT the daily exercise part! The most I can do is maybe three or four days in a row and then I skip almost a week, then go back to it.
Why is this such a struggle for me you ask? Laziness could be part of it. Yet, as most things that impede our progress, it stems from issues in the past. I spent my whole childhood trying to spend as much time "out" of my body as possible so as not to feel physical and emotional pain. One of my nicknames at home was "Double Ugly". Although the family member who called me that was only teasing, it only reinforced the ugliness and unworthiness I already felt inside. As a young child I could not understand that bad things that happened to me were not my fault, nor that of my body. I know today that I did not cause them, nor did I deserve them, but there is still some sadness that is released when I use my body and realize that I no longer have a valid reason to hate it. It is my friend, not my enemy. That means I have to look squarely at who harmed me and give that responsibility back to them and process whatever leftover sadness, anger, regrets, disillusionment, etc that remains for me. That is still an internal war going on for me and so I resist physical activity that brings up those emotions and validates and increases positive things about my body. I have learned to look people in the eye for at least a few minutes at a time and slowly but surely am tackling this exercise "mountain".
Here are a couple of scriptures I found regarding courage:
Psalms 31:24
24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.1 Chronicles 22:13
13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.It boils down to this: I need to accept the things I really am responsible for and let go of those that I am not and realize that God will help me in that endeavor. So, what areas of your life are you needing to exhibit courage in?
May God strengthen you and give you the courage you need to help you scale your own mountains,
Sonia
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