As I go down the list in Linda Graham's Bouncing Back, I find myself writing about her 5 C's of resilience in order (not her order, which has an intuitive chronology, but mine).  I am facing up to those I find easier first, with the more perplexing deferred until later.  It is time now for the final entry on my hard-to-do list:  Courage.

I am not proud of the time I spend inside the comfort zone, but I really like it there!  When I rank my strengths, courage comes out toward the bottom.  I see the risk of failure all too clearly, and fear the pain-however unlikely it seems to be.  I invent dramatic worst-case scenarios and use them to justify inaction.

Graham rightly points out that moving forward after a setback takes guts.  A health crisis, the loss of a loved one, financial ruin, or hundreds of other life changes can derail our momentum and call for starting new.  Starting new means confronting the unknown, going back to the beginning, and learning like a little child.  It is hard on our ego.  It calls for energy.  And it demands courage.

Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as saying, "Do one thing each day that scares you."  Linda Graham recommends the practice of doing one scary thing a day for a month.  I am ready! 

Several current challenges scare the heck out of me.  I plan to run three half marathons in three states within a five-day span later this month.  I want to publish Reflections as a book by year's end.  I aim to keep house and yard in working order as Lyle spends more time caring for family far away.  I can generate 30 days of scary steps toward those three goals with a few minutes of effort.  I like the idea of making it a project, doing it on purpose, and keeping track of my experience.

Biology tells us that a small courageous decision each day trains the brain to act in the face of fear.  When we take small risks, most of them turn out fine and we learn from those that don't.   In the process, we gain the courage we need to deal with challenge on a larger scale.

Courage is not fearless; it means looking at fear face-on and acting anyway. Resilience means coming back from the worst-case scenario smarter and stronger.  According to Will Rogers,  "Good judgment comes with experience, and much of that comes from bad judgment."

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What scares you about the challenges you face?  Which one scary thing will you do outside the comfort zone today?