Courage to Speak Our Truth

I have been thinking about courage this week. Not the courage of a firefighter or a soldier, but the courage that it takes to speak our truth. Imagine the courage that it takes to tell those around you that you are gay, or that you are unhappy with your marriage and that you want a divorce. Even moving to a new location to create a new life has roots in courage. Why is it that these acts of courage are rarely spoken about, but occur each and every day, without being posted on the evening news? 

These acts of courage originate from a deep desire to be true to ourselves. Oftentimes we can’t predict the outcome of our decisions, but we move forward anyway, knowing that the journey ahead will be better than the path that we had been living. 

When I think of my own life, I can remember times when I counted on my courage to guide me to a better life and my courage helped me overcome my fear of the unknown. Today I have questions about courage: where does it comes from, and why do we lack courage at certain times? For the answers to these questions and more, I will seek the guidance from my Inner Voice. 

My questions will be in italics and the answers from my Inner Voice will be in normal print.

Where does courage come from? 

Deep within you is a source of love that is more powerful than any love that you will ever experience in your physical body. This is the love of self-love, no other person can match its strength or challenge its endurance when it comes to the love that is within you. The courage that you speak of, is rooted in self-love. Even though you may not be aware of your self-love, it is here that the choices to speak your truth, and seek a better life are born.

Oftentimes people will deny themselves the possibility of a better life because their fear is stronger than their awareness of their self-love. Or they may not want to challenge those around them with changes that others may not be capable of handling. How many stay in unhealthy situations or relationships because they feel that it is easier than changing? They silence their truth from being heard or lived, because of their lack of trust in their courage.

It takes trust in our courage doesn’t it, before true changes can be made?

True change begins with the love that is within you. Imagine courage as the fuel that you need to maintain the momentum of a true change. A person may want to seek a better life, or they may want to speak their truth, but without the fuel of courage, they may fall short of their true desires. 

Speaking our truth seems to take tremendous courage. Why is that?

Speaking your truth is sharing with the world who you truly are. Yes, there may be some fear involved with this powerful act of self-love, but speaking one’s truth is accepting who you truly are, then showing this person to the world. Many times speaking your truth is something that has to happen, if the pressure is too intense, you cannot continue to live  your life by keeping your truth to yourself any longer. Then when you have begun speaking your truth, your life begins to fall into place, as you now show the world who you truly are and the world responds to your truth. Yes, this takes courage, but speaking your truth is living your life with honesty and self-love.

Is our fear so deeply rooted within us that we need courage to be honest with ourselves?

In a word, yes. This is because throughout your life people have attempted to silence you when you begin to speak your truth. From this emotional place, staying silent has become a method of survival, fear overtakes the desire to be honest with those around you. It takes courage to discover the love and truth that is within you, then it takes courage to speak and live through this truth. Yet, the whole time, you are working courageously to overcome the fear of being criticized or ridiculed by those around you.

It amazes me that we need to be courageous to live our lives with honesty and love.

One of the reasons for this is because your truth threatens those around you. They work to silence you because the idea of someone living a life of love and honesty causes discomfort within them. They are also too afraid to speak their truth, fearing what others would say to them. This is a powerful cycle that can only be broken by those that have the courage to say, enough.

We have only touched the tip of this subject. Is there any final advice that you would like to share with our readers?

The life that you truly desire is on the other side of fear. As you discover the love that is within you, you will have the courage that will now allow you to speak and live your truth. 

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   How often have we fallen in the trap of fear, ignoring our inner truth because we lack the courage to stand up for ourselves? Please feel free to leave a comment, or email me with any questions that you may have.

Every Tuesday I send out a weekly conversation with my Inner Voice to those on my email list. If you are interested in receiving this conversation, let me know and I’ll add your name to my list.

paulhudon23@gmail.com                                                    Copyright Paul Hudon 2019