Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from Making the Shift: Field Guide to the Emerging Consciousness, Volume 1
Powerful universal energies are pushing us to the brink of assurance as we encounter the Great Wave of Change that is turning everything topsey turvey. There’s unprecedented uncertainty in the global economy, politics, religions, health — everything. It’s so tempting to hide under the covers and postpone the intense karmic demands of this Shift of the Ages.
Are you brave? Do you courageously meet life’s challenges without batting an eye? Or are you the lion in Wizard of Oz who trembles in fear, longing for the instinct of courage that grants us the heart to face each day.
How do we boldly open to the moment when instinct exclaims: “Run for the hills?” Current transformational forces leave no stone unturned. There’s no place to hide. We need to drum up the gumption to go forward into this vibrational blizzard, face the unknown and stay open to the cosmic line of fire illuminating our soul’s destiny.
We need to ask ourselves, “What areas of life are currently demanding an act of courage?” Preparation time has run out. Now is the moment to evoke the gritty determination to meet these challenges. Postponement only shrinks self-esteem. Courage begets confidence, not the other way around.
Call of the Soul
Courage springs from the call of the soul that fills us with the passion to believe in ourselves and to take a stand without crumbling. How can we find the guts to follow our soul? It can be so painful to chicken out. We fall into a pile of shame while longing for the valor to step up to the plate.
People who climb Mt. Everest, compete in the Olympics, perform in Carnegie Hall, rescue others from a burning building are the brave ones — not us! We long for their grit. But overt acts of bravery aren’t the only barometers of courage. It also takes pluck to leave a stagnant career loaded with benefits, be honest with others, broadcast to the world our true identity and confront parents, sometimes to even get up in the morning.
To abdicate responsibility for our own boldness, we project courage onto others, assuming they are naturally lionhearted. It’s tempting to hide by identifying ourselves as fraidy-cats, but Divine Dauntlessness is equally available to all.
Courage develops through practice. Everyone is spiritually mandated to draw from the sacred internal place where Spirit ignites the spunk needed to move to the front lines of full exposure to ourselves, others, and Source. Courage reflects the commitment to be authentic, to extend ourselves, take risks, break away, follow our dreams, move in new directions, name our feelings, approach our pain, keep the faith, and accept ourselves.
Out the Other Side
Always invoked in times of dread, acts of courage are never easy. Boldness does not indicate a lack of fear, but rather a willingness to move through it and out the other side. We can reference previous audacious feats as reminders of our capacity for bravery. Even the most timid make acts of courage, however subtle. Spirit applauds us for not capitulating to the churning stomach, cold feet, sweats, spiking anxiety and dread that floods us as we approach the Chamber of Fortitude.
To identify ourselves as a coward implants the notion that we don’t have what it takes to meet our destiny. Yet, divinely designed to evolve the soul, we are blueprinted to handle all karmic challenges. To reference ourselves as spineless often causes us to forget, or at least discount, any prior moments of valor. We must take credit for all acts of courage. They form the foundation to take the heroic next step.
What is the line between courage and recklessness? The need for courage persists in spite of our resistance. Devoid of discernment, recklessness is a blind response that overrides and denies the true danger of the moment. Illusions of being invincible don’t really build backbone, but rather invite disaster. Bravado is not bravery. True courage springs from the acceptance and integration of our vulnerability.
Some of us mercilessly raise the bar by relentlessly challenging ourselves; we push to the front with no respite as we discount previous heroic acts as inconsequential to the next peril being conquered. We can’t keep pumping up the courage needed to ruthlessly out dare ourselves. The psyche and adrenal glands need balance; they need respite, intermission, regrouping, down time, ease, and comfort. Maybe we have spent many lifetimes riding the adrenaline rush of developing courage and now need to recuperate by nestling into the safe zone’s cushiness. Others, chronically skittish, may be mandated to focus this lifetime on becoming spunky and resisting the impulse to flee. Internal guidance indicates whether we are burning out adrenal glands or stagnating in a milksop bog.
To force ourselves to override sensitivities, deep wounds and the needs of our inner child in order to satisfy ambitious agendas is a cruel, self-abusive form of courage that creates a brutal internal boot camp. We must carefully assess the needs of our soul. Sometimes it takes courage to give ourselves permission to retreat, wait, rest, and heal. Timing is everything. Self-judgments of cowardice only hurt the soul. To override ourselves is not bravery but rather a lack of self-acceptance.
We need to compassionately embrace and learn from the cowardly lion within rather than judge and slay it with shame. Everyone has a pocket of cowardice that represents parts of the soul traumatized in childhood and previous lifetimes. This timidity provides an alchemical counterpart to our Gallant Knighthood. It teaches humility, vulnerability, sensitivity, and tenderness toward injured places that need safeguarding from courage’s overriding gusto.
Emerging Empowered Self
Many of us are going through a profound healing crisis as the old self collides with the emerging empowered self. To move in the direction of complete soul health, we need courage to create new patterns that propel us beyond the comfort zone of stifling coping mechanisms that buffered and protected us in the past. Our healing eventually brings us to the juncture where we must bravely express the new self and function in ways that previously felt dangerous to our inner child.
Imagine life without courage. We would never explore new frontiers, internal and external. Our world would shrink, our self-confidence would evaporate, and self-respect would dwindle as the voices of danger encroach in all parts of our lives, eager to feed on spinelessness.
Courage is developed by saying Yes to the immediacy of the moment — no more preparation time, and by remembering that we have all the resources needed to meet every challenge. We call upon the Mountain of Fortitude within, everyone’s birthright that pumps its fire into our system as it burns away the sticky web of fear that enshrouds the soul. We become keenly focused and listen to our heart’s guidance; we do not look back. The heart, center of courage, is then stimulated to flow its gallant energy. Every courageous moment, intensely meaningful for the soul, ripples through the aura and heals all previous moments of cowardice. We discover our noble great-heartedness and the world is ours.
Courage to Care
The Tibetan boldly approaches, filled with the courage to care so deeply about humankind. He teaches:
“The New Cosmic Day is compelling humankind to release cowardice and to bravely undergo radical change. Evolution requires the soul to open in the face of the unknown. Courage is essential to this process.
“All acts of courage arise from a commitment to self’s unforeseeable emerging truth. Everyone is required to develop courage without lingering in guardedness. This is not the time to be a quitter. Courage evokes a core passion that defines the soul. To put the soul on the line stimulates the past-life memories of danger that instigated a collapse into a withering cage of diminishment, thus curtailing soul’s magnitude.
“Source has bestowed upon all of humanity a bank account of valor that can be tapped whenever needed. If not utilized, this account fades into the unconscious and self feels dangerously exposed to the Path with no resources. But humankind’s birthright of intrepid mettle springs forth immediately when consciously invoked.
“Release the illusion that self is too fainthearted to access the courage needed to face the momentousness of today’s changes. The Spirit of Courage, emanating from the spirit plane, is divinely mandated to catalyze the fire in the soul needed to embrace its mystery and ultimately discover there is no danger in the Universe. The soul references this wisdom when resolutely moving forth through the illusion of precariousness, forearmed with the core safety inherent in Source’s Love for self.
“Present potent energies afford tremendous opportunities to practice courage. Humankind is being called to dare challenge habitual beliefs that are obsolete and irrelevant to the new consciousness, take risks that serve the soul, radically transform, release all defenses, hold an open mind, display self’s magnitude, be a truth sayer, follow self’s visions, and trust the heart. The rewards of this great discipline of courage are freedom from fear, empowerment, deepened self-worth, the ability to let go, increased authority, adventure, and transformation.
“The Masters and Angelic Force align with every stance of courage taken by humankind. No one is ever alone or unsupported in their exposure to life’s challenges. Students’ willingness and ability to commit acts of courage stem from a deep awareness of the Great Presence of all those who help, support and make possible the journey by lending their mighty energy to self’s force field.
“The fusion of spirit with human establishes the Platform of Courage that expands the aura. When self feels large, fear dissolves. Humankind discovers how easy it is to be brave when great forces are augmenting self’s fortitude. Borrow courage from the Masters until self feels it spring from within. Identify self as the hero and know that the quest for the Holy Grail awaits all who adventure forth.”
