"Even in literature and art,
no man who bothers about originality will ever be original;
whereas if you simply try to tell the truth,
{without caring twopence how often it has been told before}
you will, nine times out of ten, will become original without ever having noticed it.

Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.
Loose your life and you will save it."


~C.S. Lewis {Mere Christianity}

"Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?"

'Ohhhh!'~{The Cowardly Lion}
'What happened?' ~{The Scarecrow}
'Somebody pulled my tail.'~{The Cowardly Lion}
'Oh, you did it yourself!'~{The Scarecrow}

Just call me The Cowardly Lion. Brain? Check. Heart? Double check. Courage..........?

I surround my self with courageous, strong people. Both of my closest friends,
yet different in personality, both very strong in spirit. My husband exudes more confidence than any other person I know. {one of the many things that attracted me to him in the first place} I named my daughter a name that means "valor, valiant, courageous".

When I start to drive down that slippery slope of self-distruction, I think.....'Where the HECK did I go wrong?' Then I have to remember this:

Courage is so much more than I think it is. It specifically means: "The ability to confront fear, pain, uncertainity, or intimidation."

One of the greatest things that I have discovered over the past month or so while sitting on a stiff chair once a week, in a small office, talking to a very kind and understanding woman I pay $45 dollars to for a little over an hour: is that I am my own worst enemy. Nobody thinks towards me the way I think of myself. In fact, my closest friends & my husband tell me that I am one of the strongest people they know.

please take 2.5 minutes out of your life and watch this:

In his book, The Courage to Be, {incredible, life changing book, if I might add. read it if you ever have time} Paul Tillich writes:

"Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of non-being. It is the act of the individual self in taking the anxiety of non-being upon itself by affirming itself ... in the anxiety of guilt and condemnation. ... every courage to be has openly or covertly a religious {or faith-based} root. For religion {or faith} is the state of being grasped by the power of being itself."

Another great book, God Calling, that I have been reading lately {this old 1970's book that is packed full of wisdom that is eternally applicable} speaks about the 'perfect love' described in 1 John 4:18

'There is no fear in Love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.'

In God Calling, it gives evidence of God speaking truth in this:

'The fear may have been but a small one, but it afford evil a weak spot of attack and entrance, and then in come rushing despondency, doubt of Me, and so many other sins. Pray, my beloved children, for that Perfect Love of me that indeed casts out all fear.'

This hit me in the face so hard. When I accept these condemning fears and thoughts, it directly affects the way I view and perceive perfect love, in whatever form that might be...... In my relationships with others, friends, my husband. It affects the way that I view love from others.

In following the truth that I mentioned previously, God Calling issues this:

'Fight fear as you would a plague. Fight it in My Name.......Fear, even the smallest fear, is the hacking at the cords of love that bind you to me. However small the impression, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment, or shock they will snap. But for the little fears, the cords of love would have held. Fight fear'

So. I will fight. Everyday if I have to.


                               'Read what my medal says: "Courage".....Ain't it the truth? Ain't it the truth?'
                                                                                                             ~The Cowardly Lion {The Wizard of Oz}