Courage doesn’t always mean a big moment. Sometimes it’s admitting at dinner that you got cut and you’re sad about it.
RESILIENCE
WHAT THIS MEANS
Saying a disappointment out loud means giving up the cover story, and the cover story is doing work for you. It keeps questions away and keeps the day moving. The trouble is that it also leaves you alone with the thing, and carrying it quietly takes more out of you than telling anyone would. Admitting you are sad is not complaining. It is letting people be near you.
If there is one person you would tell, tell them plainly and leave it there. You do not owe anybody a lesson learned or a plan for next time.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What disappointment have you hidden from the people you eat with?
MORE IN COURAGE & RISK
- Doing a cartwheel at twenty in the park because you still can is a tiny act of courage against getting too serious.
- Holding your ground in a hard conversation doesn’t mean raising your voice. Lower and slower is braver.
- Trying a new food in front of friends who might laugh is small. Small brave things train the big ones.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.