courage with a small but mighty 'c'

I once heard courage described as fear that has said its prayers. 

Whilst I do not claim to be religious, I have a definite sense of my own spirituality, and daily practice that helps me stay connected to the idea that there is something greater than me, with a plan bigger than I will ever conceive of. 

A very dear friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer.  This is, apparently, part of the plan.  I wouldn't have included it, but here it is and we're dealing with it.  One day at a time makes a whole lot of sense when you're living and breathing something as big as 'The Big C'.

Despair is always an option but, right now, it doesn't hold much appeal.  Nothing is ever hopeless.  Life seems too short for self pity. 

It takes enormous courage to face life under any circumstances.  Doing life 'on life's terms' is a serious challenge.  Everyone does it their own way, and there are no right or wrong ways.  We must all tread a path that feels comfortable for us, and sometimes we find ourselves climbing mountains in inclement weather that we didn't and couldn't have foreseen. 

And so here we are, trudging along.  Putting one foot in front of another.  Humming a tune as we go.  Occasionally finding that, even in the darkest moments, there is usually cause for humour and perhaps even celebration - after all, we need never feel alone.

Sometimes, the most courageous thing we can do is not put on our brave face.  Perhaps the real challenge is to allow ourselves to appear something other than courageous.  Sympathy will not speed our passage.  Life throws up unexpected obstacles, which require strength.  True strength is to be found inside, and is often borne of humility - accepting that we don't have the road map and are afraid of what may lie ahead; reaching out to those that have something other than empty words to offer us; and surrendering to the truth:  accepting that we cannot know what the future holds whilst trusting all the while that we are never given more than we can, collectively, deal with.    

Martin Luther King, Jr. is attributed with saying, "Courage faces fear and thereby masters it".  This sentiment appears to suggest that unless and until we acknowledge our fears, they are apt to remain difficult to get past.  Now is hardly the time to be making life any more difficult than it already is.