The Grace and Grit to Overcome Hardships
A Heart for Any Fate
"Let us, then, be up and doing,
"Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to Labor and to wait."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Dragonfly~
A Symbol of Courage and Strength
Perhaps we're so drawn to these attractive and adept creatures because they're such tiny creatures of grace and grit.
We need our symbols like dragonflies to inspire us to keep going--to be 'up and doing--still achieving, still pursuing'--when difficulties arise to arouse the courage within us to persist and conquer what is put before us.
Let Us, then, Be Up and Doing
Who among us, when faced with the hardships of life, doesn't desire 'the heart for any fate'--a hardiness of spirit based in our ability to be courageous and adaptable? Who doesn't want to be a person who when faced with difficulties can handle them with grace and grit?
Life has a way of throwing us curve balls that test our endurance for handling life.
Each time we wonder "do I have what it takes to get through yet another 'difficult life lesson'?"
We do. We discover what we're made of the moment we begin to face the difficulty head on.
Even if you don't start with the courage and strength, the current challenge will show you that deep inside you is a well of intestinal fortitude for you to draw on.
Courage Means to Take Heart
So what is the key to having the courage and strength to overcome yet one more hardship? You step into life and keep on laboring--'learn to labor and to wait.'
We're all afraid when we first come face to face with a major life difficulty. But as Susan Jeffers said so many years ago, the way to deal with the fear is to "feel the fear, and do it anyway."
Step into action. Face the fear. Fly in the face of fear. Take one step, and then another. Your courage and strength will emerge when you face your fears head on.
Take Heart in Your Struggles
Do you know the origins of the word 'Courage'? First known use was in the 14th century. The word courage has been traced back to corage (Middle English;, curage, quer, and coer meaning heart (Anglo-French); and cor (Latin) meaning more at heart.
Courage Synonyms: great heartedness, guts, gutsiness, hardihood, heart, heroism, intestinal fortitude, moxie, nerve, prowess, stoutness, valor, virtue
Find Great Heartedness within Yourself
Like the tiny dragonfly you have the grace and grit to deal with life head on. Get on with the business of living with confidence and courage. Take a step, and then take another.
For more than 40 years, Susan J Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.
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