Passion Power

I helped my 5-year-old daughter make lemonade once. We loaded it up with lots of ice, added enough sugar, but not too much and squeezed a cutting board full of fresh juicy lemons. It was the best homemade lemonade I’d ever tasted. I watched from the front window on one of the hottest days of the year as she poured her juice at the end of our driveway in her sundress and baseball cap. She insisted doing this herself. “I got this, Mom” she said. She believed in herself. She had no reason not to. At 5 years old she had nothing to lose. Her sign attracted our neighbours and a bunch of construction workers that just so happened to be working on our street. As I stood and watched her confidence build with every customer, she served I thought to myself, why do we stop believing in ourselves and when do we let our own fear get in the way of letting our kids fail and fall? There was a time when we didn’t know the things that we now know because we tried something and gained experience...

Courage isn't always big brave and bold. Sometimes we have it and sometimes we don't. We feel courageous in some areas and other areas we are total wimps. Here's what I know about Courage. When you do something that you are afraid to do, you develop courage. The more you do what you're afraid to do, the less afraid you become. It spills into other areas as well. Do the thing and you shall have the power. It isn't the other away around. In other words, you don't wait until you have all the courage you need and then do something. That may take forever. You move through the fear by doing it. I recognized this happening for me. I kept saying I'm afraid so I need to work on that. I'd try and face my fears and analyze them and figure out how to make them smaller than they appeared for me but it was only really holding me back. When you take daily inspired action in spite of feeling afraid you begin to develop the capacity for it. Courage is feeli...