Courage

Its a bright yet chilly March Monday morning. To the eye gazing out at all the white mounds of snow and to the face that greets the cold breeze as you open the front door it might feel like spring is never going to come this year. Yet , standing in front of my living room window the heat from the sun's ray that shines down on one little area that I squeeze my body into and share with the dog ...I am reminded that yes spring is on its way.
I suppose it's Mother Natures way of teaching us patience. We have become a generation accustomed to everything being instantaneous that we to believe mother nature should change seasons at our beck and call once we have had enough.
I was listening to Dr. Maya Angelou speak yesterday, and I swear that is one lady I could listen to all day long and never grow tired of the wisdom that flows from her lips. As she spoke of Courage and her belief that it is the "most important of all the virtues" my ears perked and I began to think....

When asked how does one practice courage, she simply said and I am going to paraphrase here .. you practice little by little..do one thing with courage and it feels good..do another and it feels good..do more and it feels better..eventually you will do all things with courage.  How powerful is that? 
This resonates with me because from my own personal experience I know this is true.
One particular experience I will share is conquering my fear of heights. I started by climbing ladders, then made it to the top of my roof..from there it was the extreme flyer at Wonderland..then it was to challenge myself a little more..I went hang gliding..and last year it was the CN Tower Edge Walk. Little by little I found the courage to challenge myself and let myself be afraid..more importantly I allowed myself to feel the wonderful sense of accomplishment and pride in doing something I didn't think I could!

I never made the connection of Courage to our ability to practice other virtues consistently until yesterday...and until this morning as I thought about Mother Nature's courage ..so many lessons to teach us humans and its up us if we pay attention.
In fact I bet if we take the time to think about it...there are so many Courageous people in our world right now that have so much to teach!

In my opinion this video is just one example that reflects such courage!