December 26. “Courage is the decision to place your dreams above your fears.” (Anonymous)

This year I have written about courage several times. For me, courage is the notion of acting in spite of ones fears. I most commonly think of it in terms of pressurized or dangerous situations. This quote casts courage in a slightly different light. In this anonymous quote, the idea of dreams come into play.

I have been working on my goals for 2015. The other day I brainstormed a set, and before the end of this week I’ll have them narrowed down to a smaller set. As I was talking about some of the brainstorm ideas, a question was raised about whether some were attainable. Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that I had a few that were very aspirational. If they make it to my list, they will most definitely be a stretch.

Honestly, though, there is no reason not to aim high. Well, no reason except one – fear. If I fear that I won’t achieve the goal, or I fear that my results might be poor, then I may not chase the dream. To reach those stretch goals, I will have to do many things, but first I will have to overcome my fear.

Today my reflection is on placing my own dreams ahead of my fears. This form of courage is the one needed when setting goals, and putting myself on a path to achieve them.