Have Courage for the New Year
By Rodney Bullard
CEO The Same House PBC | Former Senior Executive at Chick-fil-A / Global CSR, ESG and Marketing Leader | Best-Selling Author | Former AUSA | Former Air Force JAG l Corporate and Non-profit Board Director
Many of us were raised to remain silent and keep our opinions to ourselves. From a young age, we heard things like speak only when spoken to, don’t rock the boat, and if you don’t have anything nice to say, then say nothing. A conspiracy of silence may be the root of many societal problems due to stigmas and fear. When it comes to matters of the heart, there’s often shame associated with the issues people are so afraid to speak of, like mental health, sexuality, racism, discrimination, inequality, religion, and abuse.
What positive things happen when we speak up?
Think of all the recent movements and social campaigns that draw attention to matters of the heart. There are too many to count. Once a few people take heart-centered action, others quickly join the conversation. This is bravery and courage in action. Permission is granted, and the veil is lifted for others to speak. Throughout history, we’ve relied on the voices of others to uplift, inform, and encourage change, evolution, and inspiration. Courage starts within each of us individually but has an opportunity to reverberate and create a ripple effect throughout history.
Courage Encourages Wellness
Courage and fear both leave footprints on our bodies and minds. Sometimes our body alerts us to danger while our mind needs a minute to catch up. This is when we feel butterflies in our stomach, our muscles start to tense, and we begin to sweat. A fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that activates the sympathetic nervous system to prepare the body to respond to a real or imagined threat. When well channeled, this can increase our performance under pressure.
To convert fear into courage, it’s essential to process emotions. Courage shows up in a physical, moral, or psychological way. They all have a time and place but are equally important. Here are the characteristics of these different categories:
- Physical: This is when we feel physically threatened and fear for our safety but choose not to back down.
- Moral: when we choose to stand up for a social wrong based on our values of right versus evil.
- Psychological: facing our truth and the behaviors, thoughts, and actions we need to change.
When building bridges, we can find the most growth in psychological courage. It requires addressing the conflict of who we are versus who we want to be. Through this practice, we can break patterns of thoughts and behaviors passed down to us from one generation to the next. It allows us to extend past our self-imposed boundaries and reach out to those people and opportunities that we once feared. Surrounding ourselves with like-minded people driven by the same goals and values is a great way to foster courage when attempting something big or new. This allows us to find people doing what we want to do or know how to act in the direction we want.