Tuesday, May 11, 2010

10 Ways to Be Courageous...Today!


Last night I had the honor of speaking to a writers group about courage. I love this topic because most of my life I've been the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. Loud roar. Scared of my own presence. But because God, the giver of life and courage has drawn me to His love and His way of life, I've become more and more brave. I still have a long ways down that yellow brick road, but each dancing skip leads me closer to being a woman who is afraid of nothing. Some day.

I purposely think about courage. So today, let me offer 10 Ways to be Courageous...Today.

1) Be yourself. Say and do nothing to oppress who you really are.

2) Buy a stranger coffee. Takes guts.

3) Call or email an old friend just to encourage them.

4) Stand up for something you believe in...in public.

5) Take ten minutes to an hour to do nothing but list ways you can walk through fear.

6) Hug someone you don't usually hug.

7) Stand in front of a mirror and tell yourself five wonderful things about yourself.

8) Kneel down somewhere and tell God five wonderful things about Him.

9) Dance. I'm not sure why, but this is an exercise for developing courage. :0)

10) Smile at five strangers today. Just smile. Try this and you will be amazed how your courage grows. Try not to smile at a weirdo. :0) Just kidding. When you smile, they might think you are the weirdo.

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind."

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never been a fan of exercise, Robbie - but I think these are ten exercises I can do! Thank you for your encouragement. Sometimes I try to ignore fear - thinking it will go away, but it grows if I don't confront it. <3

Robbie Iobst said...

Thank you Helen! And thank you for reposting this on Facebook, too. You are a good friend! Let's conquer our fear together! :0)

Jan Parrish said...

So how would you buy coffee for a stranger without it being weird? Just thinking...

Denise Miller Holmes said...

Kay and I were just talking about the mirror thing! I think I'm going to start doing that.
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smithsk said...

I like this. They are "baby steps" and do-able. And big doors swing on small hinges. God knows what door can be open.

Susan

Robbie Iobst said...

Jan, it might be weird but it will grow your courage. It's doing something daring. And Nice! :0)

Robbie Iobst said...

Denise, the mirror thing is very effective. But only if you don't compare yourself with Stuart Smalley. :0)

Robbie Iobst said...

Susan I love this: Big doors swing on small hinges. Haven't heard that but LOVE the analogy! Thank you!

Kay Day said...

Hahaha. We talked about Stuart Smalley, too!
Great post. Love these ideas.

Robbie Iobst said...

Kay, Great minds...:0)

Annette said...

Thank you these are great! wonderful! I'm encouraged to apply them.

Robbie Iobst said...

Thank you Annette! And thanks for visiting my blog. Come back! :0)