Authored by: Swiing, LLC - The Sports and Fitness Network
Too often, we cower to adversity when faced with the fear of a physical or psychological threat while having a fundamental, inherent quality ready to aid us — courage.
According to the United States National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest biomedical library and a leader in research in computational health informatics, fear is an emotion. It is not behavioral but the stimuli that cause someone to scream, run, or never try. Of course, this cautionary emotion can be good at times, and we need to know when to comply. However, when fear stops us from doing something honorable or significant, it becomes detrimental and consuming, robbing us of our power and diminishing our self-worth.
Psychological Threat
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” — Mark Twain
Most of us relegate our self-worth by surrendering to the feeling that “we don’t belong.” This psychological fear is self-inflicted. All it takes to belong is to simply show up.
Consider walking onto the center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the 2022 U.S. Open Grand Slam. With the respect and admiration of a crowd of nearly 24,000 fans waiting to behold the greatness of Serena Williams — it could not have made that moment any easier for her. Faced with #24 while staring down a hungry opponent 11 years younger, Serena showed up. We can only imagine the pressure she must have felt.
We all watched safely and comfortably from our couches, in bars, and tennis clubs around the world to see — will she do it? With bated breath, we whispered, “Please, please, please,” and in every stroke of the ball, we carried her fear.
For many of us, we would never attempt such a pursuit, which means we would never even behold such a great opportunity; the internal attacks from within would be too great. Doubt would shrink us from even trying, and we would accept defeat over growth, instantly. Yes, it would take years of preparation for a moment of such significance to be even possible. Still, we must show up and keep showing up in our own lives and circumstances to develop such courage. Eventually, we will have enough faith and belief in ourselves to become whom others respect and admire.
Physical Threat
“Let us make man in our own image.” (Genesis 1:26)
Our courage, packed with faith and self-confidence, can be called upon in much more troubling times, like physical confrontation. We can find ourselves thrust into a predicament that life itself depends on it.
However, our mind, faith, courage, and spirit are made of an image representing our true identity and power, and we can trust this power to carry us through challenging situations when faced with great opposition.
Our inner strength, drawn from the image in which we are created, becomes manifest when we apply it to our daily actions and decisions.
We develop the courage to face opposition by consistently showing up. A great motivator once said, 'If something threatens you, threaten it back.' Imagine if we realized that our chances are on par with the opposition we face; at that moment, we could alter the outcome by confronting what pressures us. Sometimes, we're called to do beyond what we envision for ourselves. Yet, when we resist cowering to our emotions, we're equipping ourselves with all we need for success.
Throughout life, we are continuously given little nuggets of opportunities to cultivate, build, and grow our courage. Confronting small challenges is an essential human experience that will, over time, foster great faith and belief in ourselves and our abilities. We can start by practicing these two fundamental principles:
1) Show up every time and continue to show up. This will help develop your self-confidence and a feeling of belonging — keys to self-worth;
2) If something threatens you, threaten it back. It can change the outcome of the situation.
Only when we refuse to live in a state of fear, complacency, and familiarity can the necessary work of growth and self-development happen. So, when we face our own Goliath, we will have the courage to be relentless and push through, regardless of the outcome. We must not cower — true greatness and, possibly, life itself may depend on it.