The Courage to Be

In one of his most noted plays, Shakespeare asked “to be or not to be, that is the question?” It's a question we don't realize plays out in our everyday lives. This indecisiveness of what we may “be” or “not be” for the season, or for that day or even for that moment. To some people this phrase is as simple as choosing life or death. To live or not to live? But it's not that simple. Being is more than just existing. Being is accepting who you are in spite of who you are. Being is exuding everything that makes up you...every good thing, every bad thing, every insecurity, every mistake, every gift, every talent, every success, every failure, every dream, every secret, every hope, every fear and every other ingredient from your past and from your present that has made you who you are today. And it's because of those contractions...it's because of that weird, awkward mix of ingredients that make up you, that many people lack the courage to be.

The courage to be is the act in which a person affirms their own being in spite of those wonderful, weird and awkward elements of their existence that may conflict. It's not until we choose to confront ourselves and embrace ourselves with that courage that we will be better students, actors, daughters, sons, parents, musicians, scientists, artists, writers, leaders or anything else. Courage is that unction that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. Courage is the ability to move forward, “in spite of.” In spite of the circumstances around you, in spite of those realities that suggest that you should not move forward. Society is constantly pressuring us to be something or someone else other than who we are. It's not acceptable to just be 100% you and that be good enough. The majority of the people in this world have more courage not to be, than to be themselves because they feel as though it’s just not enough and they will give into any idea or any image that they feel will help them get ahead as long as they can be someone other than themselves.

Take Heidi Montag for example. The girl married to Spencer Pratt formerly of that MTV show the Hills. Recently her story was covered in People Magazine. The article was titled, “Obsessed with Being Perfect.” In one day she received 10 plastic surgery procedures on her, chin, nose, lips, ears, thigh, backside, stomach, neck and breasts, just to name a few. She went through excruciating pain and a few near death experiences during and after the surgery. She says, “I'm competing against the Britney Spears of the world.”She calls her surgeries an "investment for my career." But most alarming was that she said that these surgeries and transformations were intended for her to me “the best me.” This is how far we have gone as a society...especially in American culture....out of fear that we aren't enough. And this is how far she has gone in order become anything but who she really is, because in the world she lives in, that's not enough. And to some extent it is true in the business she's in, trying to keep up with the pop-stars and the glam and the high life. And I would even say the same is true for you. But we are not trying to keep up with anything. And if your attitude is one of merely “keeping up” then you may as well bow out of life itself.

Your goal is to have the courage to be all that you can be in whatever you're involved in. And being all that you can be simply means being all that you are. Psalm 139:14 says that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made”... According to this Scripture, you truly are a Master Piece. God didn’t make any mistakes when He made you! Live like it!