Quiet Voice of Courage
Inside your mind there are 2 conflicting voices. These voices are sometimes referred to as the angel and the demon or the logical and the emotional or the adult and the child. These two internal dialogues disagree often about what to do next in life. Nonetheless, we believe them to be opposites, only one side of the argument should always win. The side of right, right? But what if, you are still both voices. You are your virtue and vice simultaneously. So, no matter who you choose, you can always correct during your journey. It’s fine to hear all sides. But you MUST decide before another may decide for you.
Yet again, one side must be right. Not necessarily. Though it took a long time to understand the concept, Mark Manson (author of the “Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck”) has a way that helped. He tries to say the human mind is much like a car traveling down the road. There is a driver and a passenger. Therefore, the one in the driver seat has
ultimate control on where the car goes. It can decide, without the passenger’s influence, to just go off-roading and send you well off track of where you would like to go.
The one driving is not the responsible one in control. This is an emotional, subjective, enthusiastic, child. This child easily drives off-road when there is something it craves. For me, it was binge eating at night. I would be sitting back and relaxing, all cool, then… Boom. Eat all the things! It’s okay. We all been there, and I’m willing to bet it will happen again one day.
Emotions are not a terrible thing. There is a reason we developed this way. As social creatures, we convey this as information back to our group to stay alive. If we couldn’t show emotion and be able to sympathize, we might not have grown our population. An although, the world shows emotions differently, we still do it in all levels of society.
So, what does this have to do with courage? It’s when the child becomes determined to understand why the emotion occurred and remembers how it managed it before. This is like what we ask of children now. We pose questions to the child and allow then to come to their own conclusions. Allow the child to learn. It gives the child confidence to try again for a new result.
How is this different in dealing with yourself? We get scared and allow the child to pull us away from it. This can occur, but why do you pull away? Why is this fearful reaction the correct response? Is this what you want of yourself? Would you allow another child to make the same call? Or do you encourage and support them to challenge and sometimes fail. That still exists in you today.
Courage is often the quiet voice to remind us that we will try again tomorrow. It’s not that you must try; you get to try again. That supportive piece that believes you are capable with only more effort. Courage is also being resistant for a moment longer than others around you. It’s not that there is a lack of fear but keeping composure
beyond the group around you. One second is all it takes sometimes. This second is your courageous nature trying to stand firm when everyone else falters.
The next time you are feeling a bit timid about a challenge you must face, start to ask this part of yourself questions and listen to it like how a child would respond. It may not make sense at first, but anyone with children understand the language shared with their kids. Allow this part of you to assess and think clearer. Believe in this child and it will mature. Finally, if this child drags your off-road, understand you will try again tomorrow.
