Courage means “heart” or “with heart”. Now a days, hearts symbolize affection. But back in the day the heart symbolized the hidden inner thoughts and feelings: our core beliefs (same etymology). See back then, they didn’t know about the electrical impulses of nerve cells, but they could observe how blood being pumped by the heart traveled thoughout the body. They believed that the heart was responsible for sensation and movement. Therefore, the heart was thought to be in control of a person’s actions.
Courage is Acting on Core Beliefs
The heart is surrounded by the rib cage – protected, guarded, hidden. Core beliefs are also something to guard. Acting on core beliefs can feel vulnerable and exposed. Hence phrases like “don’t wear your heart on your sleeves”. It is good to carefully choose when to “say what’s in your heart”. But when the moment arrives, we take courage. We take heart. I take or gather up the strength and momentum I’ve gained from following my core beliefs over and over again.
But what if my core belief is that I’m lazy, or stupid, or have no self control? When I try to gather up courage, I find I have no strength, only self loathing. This is why it is so important for me to use my ‘mind’ as a filter for my ‘heart’. Any thought can and will come. I choose what stays. I want to choose core beliefs that help me to value myself and others. I want to choose core beliefs that protect agency.
Thoughts float into my mind like seeds in the wind. The ones that stay, settle into my heart and begin to grow. To protect my most precious beliefs, sometimes I need to weed out the harmful beliefs. They are the most tricky. They are the ones that I have let grow for years and keep coming back, so I keep weeding them. Sometimes I can mulch and not let anything grow unless it has been vetted out first. Sometimes I can identify a thought and cast it out before it becomes a problem. Whatever I can do to keep my precious beliefs growing and bearing good fruit.
As I cultivate my core beliefs, my courage, the actions follow. As I act, I get results. I look at those results and they reinforce my core beliefs. If I choose to wilt, I will wilt. If I choose to grow, I will grow.
