A little bird told her


8:03 am

She boards the bus and takes her seat in the back row

She closes her eyes and draws 3 long deep breaths, quiets her thoughts

The first prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

Courage to change the things I can . . .

Wait

She's said this prayer thousands of times, but this is new

Courage

Courage to change

What is courage?

Courage

What does it mean, really?

Inhale, exhale

Stay with it, listen, just listen,  l i s t e n

Quiet now . . . 

Words coalesce into thought

Like hearing a bird's song for the first time

Courage
Its asks that you be humble and willing
 It does not mean that you summon bravado and muscle
That is something else
Some say courage is fear that has said its prayers
That is closer
Courage asks that you step forward
aware, in this moment, imperfect
Courage is not the absence of fear
But rather the presence of trust in what cannot always be known
You may feel alone, but you are not
You may feel you have not succeeded, but you have not failed
You may feel foolish, but courage comes paired with wisdom

Walk through your day with this word
in the palm of your hand,
on the tip of your tongue
Look at it, taste it when you need it
And you will need it


Quiet again . . . 

She completes the prayer

And the wisdom to know the difference

Her eyes open and the bus has almost reached her stop

How is it possible the trip went so quickly?

She leaves the bus, but the word travels all day with her

Courage

And she needs it in many little ways







Image by ravi gogte


Comments

Jinksy said…
Reminds me of my old school motto - 'Be strong and very courageous'. :)
♥ Braja said…
Everywhere I go I see Jinksy first and Gaston St second...it's like some kinda weird dejavu...and GS always says what I wanna say...

I liked this A LOT.
:)))
x
darsden said…
awesome post...enlightening too

yes everywhere I go I see Braja before me...LOL
ellen abbott said…
Very nice Kathleen.
Renie Burghardt said…
I say this prayer every morning, Kathleen.

Lovely post.

Hugs,

Renie
Unknown said…
Hello Kathleen,

You're right. We need courage in so many little ways - just publishing a post!
Pyzahn said…
This late in the day I have nothing fresh to add. As always, it makes me look at life a wee bit differently. And that's good.
Rudee said…
And I loved that painting. It's stunning.
Kathleen said…
Hi pals--
Thanks for being such wonderful visitors. This one felt really "out there" for me. So your encouragement truly madly deeply got me through a long day. Peace --

Jinksy: Great motto!

Jane: Thank you. Took a little of the "C" word to post it, so much appreciated!

Braja, GS, Darsden: Too funny!

Ellen: Thank you. Much appreciated!

Renie: That explains a great deal!

Willow: Thank you! So nice to have you stop by!

Derrick: And the big ones too!

Pyzahn: That's intriguing . . . I hope you'll say more about that!

Rudee: The colors, eh? And the stillness. Glad you liked it.
Erin Davis said…
Courage as fear that has said its prayers...that is one of the best descriptions I have ever read!

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