Courage Discouraged

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
William Faulkner

We live in a world that glorifies taking risks, but offers little in the way of understanding how to build the true courage and integrity to actually swim for new horizons.

Years ago, my father said to me: “Look where the crowd goes, and go the other way.” Now this idea can come from just being contrary or it can come from true courage, the kind that Faulkner alludes to above. It can be and often is some uneven mix of the two.

When I frequent Facebook, when I’m reading about people’s lives, families, pets, graduations, marriages and other things, I see life. Some say only the best parts, but others have the courage to share the worst as well.

But when I read the “news”, fake or otherwise, I see something else, a spirit that can be called one of “dis-courage”; one complaint piled on another, not all without merit, but many that do not express the courage of living. Often I see a refusal to live through the messiness and hardship of this reality we call life.

So, let’s not accept the spirit of “dis-courage”, and let’s not let our sense of entitlement ruin our integrity. Instead we might learn to start again, to encourage one another to swim together to new horizons far from the limits of these shores. 

Music always helps to encourage us; Check out this great song: “Oceans (Where Feet May Fall) by Hillsong United

(If you could humor me and re-read this post with this song playing in the background, I would really appreciate knowing if it speaks to you.)

 

Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *