How Strong is Your “Cor”?
I remember the first time I jumped off the diving board. I was 8 years old and the board was about 3 feet away from the water. So timid, my heart pounding, inching ever so close to the edge. Finally, with words from the instructor, I took the jump. Splash! Swam to the edge got out and the instructor said “again”.
The second time around, I didn’t feel nearly as much fear and trepidation as the first attempt. What was perceived to be a real threat, fear, harm, insecurity began to dissipate. Courageously I jumped into the pool and survived, actually, I loved it!
Courage comes from the Latin word “cor” meaning “heart”. It is referring to your inner strength, your center, your core being.
Courage embodies who you are and whose you are. Is it fixed within your identity and how you view yourself, your belief.
Courage is the outward demonstration of what’s on the inside. Courage can be displayed whether or not others are around you. It is revealed within your character, and character is what you when no one is watching.
So, why doesn’t everyone show courage? What holds people back from performing courageous acts, demonstrating courage in our communities or neighborhoods, when no one is watching or cheering?
The answer is fear! Fear is the antithesis of courage!
Fear is everywhere. There isn’t a person in the entire world that hasn’t experienced fear in one way or another. And you can observe the “cor” of a person in the midst of fear.
Mark Twain said, “Courage is the resistance of fear, the mastery of fear; not the absence of fear.”
So what is fear?
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
After I jumped off the diving board for the first time, the fear began to go away. The fear I was experiencing changed with each jump into the pool, even though the reality of the situation remained the same! Fear, butterflies in my stomach, heaviness turned to joy, excitement, and a awesome rush!
When you hit fear head on, it is an opportunity to show courage, reveal your inner strength, show what your “cor” is made of.
Each day you have a choice to show courage or succumb to fear. Robert Frost shared, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled, and that made all the difference.”
What road will you take?
Today is an opportunity to respond and reveal your courage, your inner strength, your “cor”!