A little bit about courage.

Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s the affirmation of faith and life despite the fear.

That’s a quote from Walter Payton. He was afraid facing cancer. Who wouldn’t be afraid when you are staring into the dark eyes of the beast? Its only natural. But courage is standing tall in the face of the beast and looking him right in the eye and declaring, you shall not win. You cannot have my life, you cannot have my soul, you cannot have my laughter and my song. You may be a cruel, hideous, horrible beast, but you cannot triumph over my spirit. My spirit is greater than your horror, my determination is greater than your blackness. My faith is bigger than your darkness and I will not cower in your presence. You will not win.

Sometimes it takes courage to just open your eyes in the morning and face another day, and somedays it takes courage to get out of bed when all your body wants to do is stay under the covers. But you do it. You get up and face your day. Whatever beasts are stalking you, and we all have them, you still get up and face the day. And when you drive on through your day with the beast nipping at your heels, it doesn’t mean that fear isn’t in the car with you, it simply means that faith is in the driver’s seat, while fear has be relegated to the back and courage is riding shotgun.

Faith and courage are powerful emotions and get us through those times when we think we just can’t go any further. When you feel that you can't take one more step, not even a small one, that is when you step out in faith. And you face your demons with courage knowing that all that is good and pure is on your side. Confident that the power of God and the angels of mercy and hope are with you. You step out in faith and courage will follow.

You, my friends, restore my hope and give me faith for a brighter today. Together we will triumph over this beast!

I just received an email from a dear friend in response to my ding dong ditch blog yesterday and it made me laugh and cry and lifted me up so much that I wanted to share it with you:
A game with you cheatin' death??? YOU BET I'M IN! Brrrrinnnngggggg! Goooo! Oh, I'm winning, cuz I'm wearing sensible flats, and you're wearing Naughty Monkey heels! Haaaaa! Catch me if you can! Oh, wait...there you are. Right with me. We're arm in arm now, cuz I know you're tired. Lean a little more. I can hold you. Oh, and there's someone on the other side of you, too.

What's that noise? A shuffling of feet all around you--from all your friends and family forming the healing circle that holds you up! We're taking as many turns as we need. Lean a little more, Patty. We've got ya.