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“You build your courage muscle daily by being courageous in little things.
Just do right.”
-Maya Angelo
My friend Nora has a neighbor who just experienced a devastating event. On her way home from work, as Nora pulled her car into her neighborhood, she could see the lights of the ambulance flashing ahead. Her neighbors and their children were standing outside on the front lawn, sobbing.
“Something awful must have happened,” said Nora, tears in her eyes. “I feel like I should do something, show them that I care. But I have no idea what happened, and they just moved in. I don’t know them. I don’t even know their names. I don’t want to be inappropriate.”
Have you ever felt that nudge deep inside, telling you to speak up or step up,
yet hesitated?
Did you let fear of judgment, uncertainty, doubt hold you back?
Or did you let your Inner Sage guide your actions?
You’ve met your Inner Sage.
It’s that internal voice of wisdom, that intuition that many believe is connected to our higher self, or a Higher Power. When we listen to our Inner Sage, we gain clarity and the ability to make the best decisions that align with our values and purpose.
It’s always there, whispering (or shouting!) what it knows to be right and true.
We just have to listen.
There have been moments in my life when I didn’t speak up or step up —all because I was afraid of what others might think. I regret those moments.
Speaking up and stepping up takes empathy and courage.
The world needs us all to contribute to the greater good.
To create.
To innovate.
To find solutions.
To help.
How can we possibly contribute our best, and shine our light, if we don’t have the courage to act?
Do you listen to your Inner Sage and take action based on what you know to be right?
My friend Landon once told me he became more intentional about listening to his Inner Sage after a memorable moment with his friend Brian. Landon and Brian quickly became friends after Brian convinced him to leave work early one day, unknowingly bringing Landon along as a wingman for his blind date—who later became his wife.
"So, in a weird way,” Landon laughed, “I went on their first date with them.”
Years later, Landon was devastated to learn that Brian was losing his battle with cancer. He, along with Brian’s closest friends and family, sat bed-side with Brian in the hospital to say their goodbyes. Needing a breath, Landon stepped away for a moment. As he grabbed a cup of coffee from the vending machine, a code blue rang out over the loudspeaker. “I felt it in my gut,” he said. “I just knew he was gone.”
When he got back to Brian’s room, the space, buzzing with activity just moments before, had fallen into a heavy silence. “I’ll never forget how crushing it felt,” Landon said. “They had turned off the life-support machines, so there were no more beeps, no more alarms. No nurses were bustling about. It was like the world had stopped. The silence was deafening. And the grief… it felt unbearable, suffocating,” he remembered.
“There were 20 of us packed into that tiny room, yet we were all unmoored, completely adrift…desperate for something—anything—to hold onto. It felt like we were all begging for someone to find the words that might anchor us. I felt this visceral ache to say something — a prayer, a blessing — anything to offer comfort. I looked around at the room, overflowing with Brian’s loved ones, all of them broken,” Landon said.
“Clearly, somebody needed to say something,” he continued. "I kept waiting, but no one did. My mind raced—Who am I to say something? His family is here. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I make it worse? So, instead of saying something, I said nothing. We all just sat there, despondent, drowning in that unbearable silence.”
“Do you know,” Landon said, “Brian died over twenty years ago. And to this day, I still massively regret not offering a word of comfort or support in that moment. I made a promise to myself that now, regardless of the situation, if I’m with someone and feel like this person needs something, I will be as thoughtful and kind as I can, and have the courage to speak up.”
Creating, building, growing, contributing, making a difference — all of this takes courage. Building this muscle, by reflecting on what’s important to you and acting in alignment with your values, paves the way for a happier, more meaningful life.
And you just might make a difference in the lives of others in the process.
How can you step up in the moment, to share your unique strengths, your brilliance, your light — to act in alignment with your values, to serve and contribute to others?
Happiness Practice
Is there something you’ve been hesitating on, because of fear of how others might respond?
What is your Inner Sage saying?
What if, instead of second-guessing yourself, you trusted your Inner Sage?
What’s just one small action you can take — to move forward or to help another?
P.S.
Nora ended up having a meal delivered to her neighbors, with all the sides and fixings. They were so touched by her thoughtfulness that, a few weeks later, the whole family came over to thank her personally. And then these neighbors, whose names she hadn’t even known, embraced her, and let her know that her act of courage and kindness was a light to them in a very dark time.
Stay Strong. Stay kind.
With so much love,
Susan
Decide Happy is now available in paperback, e-Book, and Audio, wherever books are sold, including Amazon.
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