Courage

On Friday I posted the following quote on my facebook page

In one of it's earliest forms, the word courage had a very different definition than it does today. Courage originally meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart" ... we've lost touch with the idea that speaking honestly and openly about who we are, about what we're feeling, and about our experiences (good and bad) is the definition of courage. ~Brené Brown

I read this in a book I'm reading (yes, I'm reading again, or at least trying too) and it really stuck with me. 

At the same time, in a group I participate in a person opened up and shared something deeply personal and hard to share. Basically Jane (not the real name) told us all about a problem she was having that was hard to share. Seemingly, Jane had it all together. I mean, sure we've all shared before, all of us at different levels, but for Jane, this was deeper than what she has shared before. You could feel the vulnerability in her words. I imagine, though I haven't asked, that when Jane shared she felt some relief in being able to get those words out and an immediate desire to take it all back. But she didn't delete her words, she kept them. And a beautiful thing happened. Others started sharing. Others started to talk about similar problems they were having or had had. It was beautiful (with just the right amount of humor sprinkled in). 

Sometime late last night it hit me, Jane had shown courage in opening up and sharing with us. And by her being courageous, it pathed the way for more people to courageous with what they needed to share too. 

This is what I wish I could do more of. To be more open and vulnerable. To have courage to share even the hard stuff. I think this is what I was trying to say on Friday, and I just didn't know it yet. 

Related: When things come together like this, it always blows my mind. Have you ever had a moment like this where things just click. Is it a sign from God, the universe, something? Or is it just coincidence. I think it's a sign. Something bigger than me is trying to open my eyes and tell me something. I'm just really bad at listening, so it has to come in more than once from several different directions before I finally "get it".