Courage - it may not kill you, but it won't be comfortable

There was a time in history where courage or bravery had a distinct label of nobility to it.

Maybe because that for those who were about to do something courageous there was a strong possibility that they might not physically survive.

Whether it was taking on a wild animal, hunting for food or going to war, the courageous overcame their fear and hoped to live to tell the tale.

Today, our civilised world serves us up different and far less threatening situations.

The fear we feel however is the same emotion that our ancestors faced.

The fight or flight we may feel in the office, in traffic, or in a heated conversation has the same physiological effect in our bodies as our forebears experienced when faced with a hungry tiger.

But while these feelings and emotions are the same – there is a significant difference.

Where previously courage was needed to face literal life and death situations, today we need courage to face something that might make us feel uncomfortable.

Even though these feelings can be very powerful there is an extremely high likelihood that we will not perish as a result, and that does give us an advantage which previously didn’t exist.

Historically, when embarking on our courageous venture, failure potentially meant immediate removal from the gene pool.

Our opportunity today is that when take a step of courage – when we expose ourselves to the risk of discomfort (and remember many times discomfort is usually the indicator that we are taking a step away from being average) - then win or lose, succeed, or fail, we have the opportunity to learn and grow from it.

And we’ve just moved one step further from being ordinary.

But best of all we can do this with the secure knowledge that we are unlikely to die.

So, what’s your next courageous step?

Is it something to ask or tell someone?

Or something to do?

Be courageous and take one more step away from average.

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” – Tim Ferriss

#lifelessordinary #lifetodiefor