I could tell you a lot about courage or even write a book about the subject but this is about you and about your courage. This is about the courage that you may not even realize is yours.

When we think about courage, we tend to associate the thought with great deeds, with deeds that are difficult to accomplish and  or with soldiers and heroes. Courage belongs to everyone, to the small deeds and gestures as well as great deeds. You are as much of a hero as you want to be and you have as much courage to exercise as you choose to. 

It takes some courage to get out of bed in the morning, when every human fiber of your being wants to stay in bed. It takes courage to face the known, like the traffic waiting for you as you journey to work or anywhere else. It takes courage to face the unknown as the day unfolds. It  can take courage to even say a simple hello to someone. It can take courage to say I love you to someone you are in a relationship with or someone that you truly care about.

We are all `souldier's. That was not a typo by the way. We are all souldier's of life. We all have our daily battles to face and we have been given the courage to do so. It is human nature to have some doubts

and to question why  things are the way that they are, but it is courage to keep on moving on to face and overcome each battle. It takes courage to do things and it takes courage to change things.

If you like, you can think of life as a battle and or a journey. I like to think of it as a journey. Either way it takes some courage in which ever capacity you travel though life. It takes courage in which ever capacity you do battle, to keep on making your journey.

We assume courage to be associated with the extra ordinary but there is no exclusivity to courage. Courage belongs to all of us in all our capacities. It belongs to being a parent and the courage to do what is right for your children; it belongs to being a friend and making the right choices; it belongs to husband and wife to be true to each other; it belongs to children to get up and go to school, even though they do not want to and it belongs to you getting out of bed and going to work or to work on making a dream come true.

Wake up with the thought and knowledge that you are courageous. Wake up with courage by your side
and be not afraid of the known or unknown as you journey through the day in each and every capacity
that is you.

When I was a child, I was taught to pray before eating and before I went to bed. No religion was imposed on me but a relationship with God was always encouraged. I thank my parents for allowing my spirit to make its own choices about the relationship. I have come to understand that prayer is like a bridge between us and the divine. 

As a society we have made our religious customs and go to worship God on particular days and at particular times. Some of us go to church on a Sunday to worship God and the next day, it is back to throwing stones at  other people or throwing people under the bus. Some remain nice, kind, thoughtful and generous. Do not be one of the people doing the throwing. Try and be as nice today, as you were while you were in the house of God.

Back to the subject of prayer. Prayers are a powerful way of saying thank you to a much higher power and also a way of asking for guidance. Saying thank you, as previously said allows your benefactor to know that you appreciate what has been given. Ask that which is not selfish and it is also made known that you need some help. God may know your heart and mind already, but maybe God is waiting for you to ask.

Think of a child in need and their loving parent knows that the child needs help but waits for the child to ask. It gives the child the opportunity to learn something from the experience, the opportunity to utilize their freewill, be creative will and exercise some independence.

          ` For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, 
                                                      the door will be opened.' Luke 11:10

Prayer is not exclusive to any meal time, bedtime or to any particular time of the day. Prayer is also not exclusive to the church or any particular place. Prayer is an anytime occasion. The universe is all around us and God is always listening.

Pray for a good day  and your day is likely to be a good day. Pray for a good day for others also and your day is likely to be even more better. Praying for a good day is not too much to ask and praying for a good day for others, is helping others. Even if God is busy saving the universe or granting answers to prayers in order of appearance, the very act of praying will provide its own satisfaction and make a good day.

It does not take long to pray and I do not think God necessarily requires you to be on your knees to do so. You can say a prayer before you get out of bed; you can say a prayer kneeling down or standing up; you can say a prayer while you take a shower or before you have breakfast; you can say a prayer while you are driving or while you are stuck in traffic.

Your prayer does not necessarily have to be long either but it does need to be sincere. Say the Lords' prayer or the Serenity prayer and say it with due respect. The Universe understands every language and is always listening out for prayers. Make yours one of them.

Say a prayer before you start your day or as you journey through the day and have a positive day.

 

 

Always be full of joy in the lord: I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all that you do. Remember that the Lord is Coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank God for the answers.                                                                                                                                Philippians 4:4-6 TLB

Wake up with gratitude

Gratitude is another word for thank you but it is more common to say thanks or thank you. Gratitude is a message that has been inscribed in all of us from the universe. There is great power to gratitude but not everyone pays as much attention to the power of gratitude as they should. There is also much to be thankful for.

Gratitude is an ancient message of the universe. It is also a part of the power of manifestation. If you are thankful for something that someone has given to you, the likely hood is that next time they will give you an even greater gift. If you do not appreciate what is given, the likely hood is that they will not want to give you anything else due to the lack of appreciation. The power of manifestation does not work well with negativity. manifestation does not favor negativity.

Life and the universe work in a similar fashion. You have to be grateful for what you have. You have to show some appreciation for the gifts that have been given to you, in order to receive more. Life is like a gift that you have to unwrap carefully in order to reveal your blessings but if you do not take care of the

blessed gifts that have been given, they will either be taken away from you or you will receive no more.

Let us use parent and child as another example. The parent gives the child a gift but instead of appreciating the gift, the child has a tantrum because the child want a more expensive gift or more gifts. The wise parent takes away the gift from the child, for the child to learn the lesson of gratitude and to be with nothing until the lesson is learnt. Next time the child does receive more because the child has truly become thankful. Think of the universe as a parent and yourself as a child.

It is not just about saying thank you as a matter of courtesy but also being genuinely thankful. Genuine gratitude  becomes a part of you and you learn to appreciate much more. You learn to appreciate the life that is yours and life all around you. Such gratitude magnifies an appreciation for life and the days that are yet to come.

Wake up and be thankful that you are awake. Wake up and be thankful that you have a job to go to, if you have one to go to. If you do not have a job to go to, wake up and look forward to all the wonderful things that you can accomplish. Wake up and appreciate the people in your life and be thankful that they are  still in your life.  Wake up and be thankful that the day will present you with the opportunity to help someone at work or elsewhere.

If you can wake up with thanks  to the day ahead or eventually gather your wits to give thanks for the day ahead, it shall be a good day.

Prepare for tomorrow, today

Today becomes tomorrow and in due time tomorrow will become yesterday. Eventually, today, yesterday and tomorrow will become once upon a time. Everything becomes once upon a time eventually. The good, the bad and the ugly all become a part of the once upon a time that belongs to everyone. The point to the once upon a time analysis  is that everything is temporary . If what you are worrying about today, does come to pass it is but a temporary situation. The irony is that what you are worrying yourself about, may not even come to pass. The trick is not to think too much about it.

Having said that and even though everything is temporary, it is better to be prepared for any battle, than it is not to be prepared for battle.  From what I have gathered life is a battle for many, if not for everyone. I prefer to perceive the so called struggles as a challenge. Waking up in the morning can be a challenge. Getting out of bed and getting ready for work can be a challenge. Getting to work can be even more of a challenge compliments of the bumper to bumper traffic along the way. If you like what you do and where you work, none of the above may be a challenge. If you do not like what you do or work in a negative environment, the above can be even more of a challenge for you.

A lack of motivation is equivalent to a lack of preparation. The more motivated that you are about anything, the more prepared that you are for it. As negative as any work environment may be, if an e-mail was to be sent out on Friday evening to inform all employees that the first employee in on Monday would receive a $10,000 bonus, I can guarantee you that every employee will be motivated by that e-mail. I can guarantee you that almost every employee will be prepared on Sunday night to be the first one at work on Monday morning. In fact that organization would have a lifetime record for Monday morning punctuality.

Forget about wishful thinking. That is unlikely to happen.You have to learn to motivate yourself. You have to learn to be prepared and transform most challenges into something positive. You have to motivate yourself to be prepared for tomorrow. Going to work is something that you are going to have to do, unless of course you can call in sick the next day, work from home or for yourself.

If you are going to do it, you might as well do it well and you do it well by being prepared. There is something exciting about any last minute rush but if you are prepared on Sunday night for Monday morning, then you have a good head start to the day and to the week. If you are prepared for the day ahead before it arrives, rather than scrambling your brains and running around in circles looking for that clean shirt or pair of shoes, you are good to go.

Being prepared for the day ahead, gives you an advantage. It diminishes the challenges. If you are prepared, you can get out of bed a little bit later than usual. If you are prepared, you could leave early to avoid the traffic that you are so familiar with or you can face it with a more positive frame of mind, because you have everything that you need in your car to make you a happier camper in the traffic jam.

Be prepared for tomorrow, today and you should find yourself having a much more positive day.