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Courage is often associated with the heroes journey–taking enormous physical risks, running into burning houses, slaying the enemy. And indeed, these are courageous acts. But there is a courage that is not as visible. In her book The Chalice and the Blade, Riane Eisler speaks about a different kind of courage:  “the courage to risk your life, not in war, not in battle, not out of fear…but out of love and a sense of injustice that has to be challenged. It takes far more courage to challenge unjust authority without violence than it takes to kill all the monsters in all the stories told to children about the meaning of bravery.”

The word courage comes from the medieval French word “corage,” which means heart and spirit. If we reveal our heart and spirit, we are our most vulnerable, but we are also our most powerful. Being courageously vulnerable is having the courage to be true to ourselves in difficult and unjust situations, which is also an opportunity to realize and affirm our essential nature, our authentic self. When whole hearted, courageous vulnerability gives us access to our true capacity, to our actual and potential strengths. Acting from our deepest selves, we give ourselves permission to own and manifest all of who we are. We commit to not dimming our lights or letting our lights be put out, but rather being someone who sheds light on truths, who lets her own light shine.

When we shine light on our truths, we create space for more truths to be told.

When were you courageously vulnerable, or wish you had been? Watch for those opportunities and see yourself grow stronger. It’s how you earn your wings.