Heroes and Heroines

Photo by Анна Рыжкова

I was recently reflecting on those who inspire me.

Yes there are the courageous heros and heroines of old such as Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and Ghandhi, or current beacons of light like Marianne Williamson who recently dared to run for US presidential candidacy, and Linda Wharton whose commitment, integrity and grace with her work with the Health Forum NZ is awe inspiring.

But I also have an abundance of friends and people close to me who quietly take courageous steps everyday who are equally inspiring:

• A friend whose soul life path is Faith, who every day over summer let go of the guard rail, foregoing the steps of the boat and lept into the deep sea as an intentional 'leap of faith' and continues to take other 'leaps of faith' to build that spiritual muscle. 

• A family member whose shyness gives them continual butterflies in their stomach, but engages with life every day, bravely engaging with people, (their soul life lesson archetype is the Warrior).

• Another family member who has the courage to step out of a relationship to find out who they truly are before committing to another.

• Another friend who also took a leap of faith and found the joy of community and expansive friendships by taking small incremental steps to actively reach out to people. They also followed their intuition and guidance and with a larger leap of faith have built an incredible new life of beauty, joy, connection and pleasure. 

• Another friend who has reframed her expression of love and care for her children to allow them to walk the paths that are theirs, and honour and respect that from a distance.

A life of growth and transformation can ask us to be courageous. And that courage will be different for each of us.

We may think nothing of selling up and moving to a new country, but find it challenging to be emotionally vulnerable or available, or find it easier to be emotionally vulnerable than to take a risk in our career or putting ourselves in the limelight.

Maybe we are more than willing to assist another, but have trouble saying no when our resources are low? Or are very self-reliant and have difficulty asking for help, or conversely automatically ask for help without considering we may have the capacity within ourselves? 

Many years ago, I attended Outward Bound and observed that the most courageous act during those three weeks in our group was a man in his mid 20's attempting to rock climb. He had a fear of heights and literally only got a couple of feet up before he froze. 

Despite several attempts he did not climb any higher.

I wonder who was more inspiring that day?

Those of us who scaled up the rock face with ease or a man who 'failed' but attempted something that was incredibly challenging? 

The truth is that we are all inspiring in our own way and you never know how you inspire others as you go about your daily life.

My friend who is incrementally taking small leaps of faith inspires me to ask what small incremental actions can I take to build my strength in an aspect of my life that gives me discomfort.

While this aspect may not come easily to me, what are the small actions I can take to change this? Knowing that I may not succeed everytime, but each time I do, I am working to rebulid the foundations of a new way of operating.

And while we are sometimes asked to take the BIG leaps of faith, maybe there is as much value in small consistent steps. For does not consistency effect change? 

How about you? 
Who inspires you?
What incremental steps can you take towards crafting a new life or aspect of? 
 
With much love as we discover the inspiration and courage around and within.