Courage

I ran across a quote from President Thomas S. Monson that I have been pondering about.  It plays into a theme I have been pondering (from different angles) for a while now.

Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

I ponder about trusting Heavenly Father and how I struggle sometimes.  Without daily face-to-face interaction, my connection to heaven easily falls into disrepair - still.  When I am spiritually hitting on all cylinders, life seems easy (or, at least, less difficult).  However, when only a few cylinders are powering me along, it takes real courage to "keep on swimming".

I really like a quote from Brene Brown regarding the word courage:

The root of the word courage is cor—the Latin word for heart.  In one of its earliest forms, the word courage literally had a very different definition than it does today.  Courage originally meant "To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart". -- Brene Brown

Thinking about that definition of courage, I remember Regina Brett's list of life lessons.  Every time I read them, I tear up.  The Spirit moves me and I feel peace.  I especially like #8 (and #15 and #34 and ...).

I've thought a lot about whether it really is acceptable to be angry with God.  For me, the answer is yes only if I am willing to tell Him everything that I am angry about and why.  It helps me to find peace when I feel like God will take anything I dish out unfazed.  Sometimes I just need to "express all my heart" - good, bad, ugly, and sometimes downright nasty - to someone who isn't knocked out of place by any of it.  Finding that place, where you feel safe expressing anything, can be a profoundly peaceful place.

I bike into work everyday (generally) and there are 3 significant hills I traverse - each way.  Even after riding over them most work days for 9 months, I still grunt while climbing - even with 21 gears.

What's the difference after 9 months of biking?

These days, I climb those hills in 17th or 18th gear (except for the worst one which I climb in 15th), rather than 1st gear.

I find this is a metaphor for my life.  I have days when I am discouraged, feeling small, inadequate, under appreciated, overworked, or just plain worn out.  On those days, I can pause and notice I'm running up the hills of life (on average) in a higher gear than before.  When I have days that I'm running up the hill in 1st gear (yet again), I can heed Pres. Monson's counsel - take courage and "try again tomorrow".

One last thought from E. L. Doctorow (adapted to life instead of writing):

[Life] is like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

That is the benefit of faith and trust in a loving Heavenly Father.  I (we all) can make the trip of life never seeing further than my headlights illuminate and arrive where I should be.