What does fear beget? What does love beget? You know the answer to both. If you plant nightshade, you grow nightshade. I met a woman this year who was heroic and courageous on so many levels. She was diagnosed with a terminal disease over a decade ago. As she was preparing to die, and her husband was recording her to create a video diary for her children to remember her by, she had a wake-up call. Watching herself in one of the videos was like a splash of cold water, a slap across her face. She realized she did not want to die. So, she made a choice – to live.
This is where the story gets really good. You see, she did the opposite of what mainstream society was telling her to do. Instead of accepting her death sentence, putting her affairs in order and preparing for the transition out of this life, she chose to give up her financial security, her lovely home and her life as she knew it, for a ‘fun pass’. The fun pass included the purchase of a year-long pass to an adventure/theme park and a boat for her family to get out on the water to play and fish. She asked her husband to leave his job and they make the choice to take their young children and just play. They sold everything, and took a chance. She listened to the voice that was coming from love that whispered, ‘Go be with your family and heal – play’. She saw past the voice that said, ‘You better be responsible and get your affairs in order. You better make sure your husband has a comfortable home for your children and has money in the bank when you go. You are a burden and you should feel badly for the upset you are creating,’ and so on. Well, 17 years later, she is alive and well and her children are now through University. The disease didn’t take her life; it dissolved like a sugar cube when she followed her heart.
Courageous is the one who makes choices which come from love. Courageous is the one who trusts that the voice coming from love will bestow more love. Courageous is the one who knows what he or she wants and allows it to unfold without doubt and worry. So today I ask that you take a moment to listen to both voices and ask which one is coming from love. Then act on that one. Be courageous today!