The 7-key acronym C.O.U.R.A.G.E. I apply in my business are the foundational tools I use to teach women how to live a courageous life. The “G” stands for “gratitude is the attitude that propels you forward; be grateful for the lessons learned.” However, when faced with adversity and challenging times it can be difficult to see the blessings in our suffering.
When my grandmother was murdered, I did not see the blessing in the situation. I would have liked a “quick fix” to take away my pain, but I had to come to grips with the emotional turmoil of what had happened. Finding the courage to face my pain and situation opened my heart to a place of gratitude, and ultimately to an experience of divine grace. Standing in the prison, I held the man who had murdered my grandmother in my arms, forgave him, and asked him to forgive himself. In that moment, I experienced awe, gratitude, and unconditional love.
As Oriah Mountain Dreamer states it takes a certain kind of courage to allow gratitude to arise within our hearts. We know that in an impermanent world, all that we love will change, is impermanent. To let ourselves love & be loved anyway, to feel & express our gratitude for lives and experiences we know are unpredictable means holding our fears about loss tenderly without letting them stifle our enthusiasm for life. Of course, what feels like shrinking or expanding differs from person to person- we are the only one who can know for sure if we are shrinking our lives to accommodate our fears or finding the courage to let life expand within & around us
[Tweet “When we are fully present in the moment there is no place for fear @DiRiseborough”]. Fear lives in the past or future. It is impossible to feel fear, worry, and negativity when we engage in gratitude from its truest sense. Gratitude lives in the state of love, in the present now. You can’t feel miserable and grateful at the same time. Being fully present leads to courage. Here’s why. When you’re present, you see reality – without past worries or future fears. Learning to fully tune in cuts your ego out of the equation, which then eliminates fear.
When we’re not present, we tend to hyper analyze reality, which – depending on our emotional mindset at the time – leads us to slant the world in a falsely positive or negative angle. Of course, most of the time, we choose the negative view. Being fully present in the moment lends itself to pure, unfiltered vision. In this state, we experience objective reality and see things exactly as they are. Presence doesn’t mean a perfect life. It does, however, mean a courageous, confident life.
Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. When you are grateful, your heart is open — open towards others, open for surprise. You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say, “yes” to that belonging. This “yes” is the essence of love, knowing we are all connected.
Gratitude is a shift in focus. When you recognize that gratitude is not simply an emotional response, but also a choice you make (no matter how life is treating you), it awakens another way of being in the world, one that nurtures the heart and helps create a life of meaning and purpose. With gratitude comes acceptance and letting go of things beyond our control; something we all struggle with if we are feeling challenged by life events or people around us. It takes courage to let go and accept what-is and ourselves.
Start by claiming your life, your ‘mistakes,’ your choices, and what you’ve chosen to do with that which has shown up in your experience. Start embracing everything that comes into the circle of your existence. Everything can be a teacher, if we choose to take on life in that way and shift out of our ego.
From that perspective, there’s room for a lot of courageous gratitude–courageous because it’s scary to say thank you in the middle of things falling apart. It’s scary, yet it’s enlivening, because it’s a way of meeting our fear. Courage is: feeling the fear, diving in anyway (meeting the fear), and transforming. Acknowledging and being with our fear transforms us
When you appreciate whom you are and what you have, you become unstoppable. You see the changes and you aim even higher with another step. What you do matters. Once you appreciate your abilities and potential, you can recognize that even the smallest of behaviors can breed positive results and create long-term positive effects. Every time you catch yourself succeeding, stop, acknowledge where you are at and appreciate yourself for a moment. This is an act of self-love.
Being thankful every day, even when it’s not easy, has improved my overall attitude and led the way to great things. Being open to what comes has made this whole process seem easy. Letting go of old patterns and ideas has allowed me to be unburdened by fear. I also realized that gratitude can boost courage. Courage to step in the direction we want to go. Courage to make ourselves vulnerable. Courage to put ourselves out there. We become courageous by being courageous
The act and power of adopting an attitude of gratitude has a direct effect on our lives on a physical, spiritual, mental and emotional level. Studies have shown that living life with appreciation leads to a greater sense of well-being and happiness. The secret to living a courageous life may rely on focusing on the good, rather than what is lacking or not going well at the moment.
LOVE this Di, thanks so much for the great advice. Sharing on Hunting Happiness Project on the weekend <3