Outcome doesn't override or erase courage

What does outcome have to do with courage?

Nothing. A high school crush taught me that. I had a ridiculously big crush on James*. Bigger than the ones I had on Keith* and Shawn*. The butterflies in my belly swarmed when I saw him, and the only way to settle them was to turn away. But, I never wanted to miss the smoothness…

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Courage is worth its complexity

The Courage To Be in 2017

What had a year’s worth of inquisitiveness about courage amounted to? That’s the question I reflected on a few days before the end of 2016. I had a virtual pile of notes about its nature, variables, development and application, and sifting back through it reminded me about the virtue’s complexity and power. Courage has been…

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comfort zones can become danger zones

One place everyone should have the courage to go

The customs lady asked me two million more question than she did the couples before me. She sensed my annoyance and offered that she was “doing her job,” but the bewilderment in her brows and disbelief in her tone hinted at her personal bias against vacationing alone. My taxi driver inquired, rather dramatically, “How can…

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lessons for younger girls

35 Lessons for my younger self (and other girls)

I turned 35 today, and like a few other milestone birthdays, this one brought with it an irresistible charge to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned throughout the years. Here are 35 of them I’d relay to my younger self and other girls. Remember to play. Everyday. Follow your curiosity. Concern yourself more with feeling…

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building a better relationship with fear

3 Ways To Build A Better Relationship With Fear

Fear is a deeply ancient instinct and an evolutionarily vital one … but it ain’t especially smart. – Elizabeth Gilbert I read Eat Pray Love when I was 27. The book’s vivid descriptions of Indonesia’s culture and countryside painted pictures of detailed wood-carvings, colorful temples and sprawling rice paddies in my imagination. And I was…

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the importance of courage in the devleopment of girls

The Importance of Courage in the Development of Girls

Adolescence, the awkward transition period between childhood and adulthood, gives girls a choice to assert or conceal themselves, and the latter may be easier to do when girls’ body and personality changes intersect with oppressive norms and gender stereotyping perpetuated in social circles and the media. Their fear of standing out or being inadequate is…

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the courage to cut it off, fear is contagious

The Courage To Cut It Off

Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide. – Marva Collins I spent several moments in front of the bathroom mirror with my hair pulled tightly back, angling my head from left to right, imagining how I’d look with a short, coily style. I hopped up on…

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courage and freedom are conencted

My ABCs of Freedom

I’ve learned that when I have difficulty maintaining freedom (of thought, expression and response), I have difficulty acting courageously. So, I wrote personal ABCs of freedom as a reminder to myself that my life is my own. (You can download a blank template at the bottom of the page to create your own ABCs of…

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Courage and Freedom

Volition. It is the first of three core components* of the concept of courage, outlined by courage researcher Dan Putman. It means that an actor, by her own power and free will, decides for herself. She neither gets a cookie for doing what she is told to do nor a gold star for doing something…

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