Childhood Courage

In our early days as a family with one car, my husband's boss would pick him up for work up on a motorcycle. He kept the spare helmet at our house. Our oldest, a toddler at the time, had an instinctual and intense fear of the helmet -- even when Mark was wearing it (wise beyond her years?). This became a sticking point one day when we had locked ourselves out. We spied our keys on the desk through the window. Fortunately, we had a tiny access door that our toddler could fit through. Loving to be a helper, she was excited to crawl into the house to grab our keys and save the day. We saw her get through and stand up and then come to a sudden halt as terror filled her eyes. We followed her gaze. The infamous helmet was right next to the desk holding the keys. Knowing she needed some motivation to overcome her fear, Mark explained how we would celebrate her heroics by getting ice cream (okay, so some would call it a bribe, but hey - we never claimed to be parents of the year). She steadied herself with determination on her face, walked slowly toward the keys, keeping her eyes on the helmet the whole time, and ran back to crawl out with the keys firmly in hand. She was so proud of herself. She had just experienced her first reward of mustering courage. As adults, we are not so different, except I think it's easier at some points for us not to face our fears - of change, of new experiences, of growth, of the potential to fail. Yet, when we focus on where we want to be and why, take a deep breath, and set our face as determined, then courage will help us grab the keys to unlock our ideal future.