courage

It is not being fearless. I have courage and have felt fear in my life but have gone on to do the things I fear. I have moved out of state thinking it was what I want to do, only to find out I didn't like the state I moved to. I have found the courage to move back. I have traveled to unfamiliar places, with great fear and trepidation, only to realize there were no grounds for my fears. Courage and fear goes hand in glove. Many people are paralyzed by their fears and have not been able to move ahead. They entertained the many unanswered questions,"what if?". Most of the "what ifs" never happen. I have constantly felt fear in my life but have gone on to do the things I want to do, never letting my fears stop me. I plunged into marriage and have found the courage to end it when I felt it will never work the way I want it to. I've quitted my job a few times when the going was too tough and have returned to the same job each time. It's a gutsy move, maybe not a smart one. Life takes guts; it's gutsy people that move ahead. I have invested in stocks not knowing a thing about stock analysis and have done well. Years sgo I decided to move up in my neighborhood. I went to the bank and qualified for a $350,000 home loan and bought a house for $500,00. It was scary; I wasn't sure if I bought at the height of the market. One can never be sure. If we wait to be sure, opportunity will pass us by. Even in today's housing slump the house has doubled in value. I have shown it off proudly to friends who were always too afraid to buy a home. The trick is not to buy too much home and have the payments overwhelm us. There should be the apportionment of funds to varying activities, eg: living and house expenses, gifts, books and travel. This makes for a fun life. Courage takes faith, faith in time. It is hard to get rich quick but it is easy to get rich slowly. Faith in time is the most important ingredient. We are impatient. We refuse to put seed into good soil; nurture our crops and work at it till harvest. As surely as harvest time follow seed time, prosperity will follow diligence. "THe mills of the gods grind slowly but they grind very fine." I have struggled with patience but nonetheless, I need to continue to be patient. Every day is a struggle to go to work; I struggle to be frugal; I struggle to be positive and the list goes on. I'm winning the battle because I do go to work, I do save and I do remain positive and patient. I'm surprised by the struggle. I'm surprised at how tough it still is after all these years; that it doesn't get any easier. Enough time to allow seedlings to grow and fruits to ripen for the harvest. Enough time to make a big mistake seem small as time goes by, like losing $90,000 in a business venture. There are no failures if we are willing to learn. We feel such fools but everyone gets burnt sometimes. They overcome by learning from the mistake and allowing time to rebuild. I have grown and I forgive myself and have the courage to move on and up again.