Courage
"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
The dragons, in this case, could be anything. Maybe the dragon in your story is a bad habit, unforeseen circumstances, a realisation that you need to break out of a comfort zone, perhaps it is a challenging time personally, professionally or both. No matter what you're going through, take comfort in the fact that there is still so much beauty out there for you, so much more to life and someday you will do amazing things, have incredible experiences and one day, you will tell the story of how you overcame a difficult time and defeated your dragon.
I was very fortunate recently to be a part of the TED Tribe at TEDxWomenLondon, the day was absolutely filled to the brim with inspiring stories from human beings who had overcome challenging circumstances that I could not even have imagined. The unparallelled courage I witnessed was phenomenal. Humans that had been taken to terrifying depths of tragedy had chosen courage - they chose courage to take steps in carrying on with their lives, their art of storytelling was honed with so much emotion and thought-provocation that I was left speechless on various occasions.
You can see the list of speakers that were at the event here. I have always admired it but after witnessing it in-person, I genuinely have not stopped gushing about how positive + powerful the TED platform is and how humans can find courage in themselves even when everything seems so grey and impossibly difficult. I don't for a second believe its easy, I would never simply think that saying 'just be brave' is enough but its a start and its a testament to the INCREDIBLE people I saw that they had chosen to dig deep and find strength. I heard stories from a Paralympic athlete, campaigners for refugees, activists for human rights, facilitators of knowledge, champions of diversity, advocates of progression - and all round dreamers of a positive future who are pioneering change.
It got me thinking about how tough it must be to tell your story with raw honesty, how surreal it must seem to find courage and empowerment amongst the pain of growth. It was a refreshing reminder that human beings are capable of extraordinary things, it is within each person to overcome their demons, to defeat their dragons and to show up and do their part in making the world just that much a better place for themselves and for everyone else that is still searching for that courage to get started.
Take some time over the festive break to think about how courageous you have been in your life, how brave you would like to be going forwards. Whether its in relation to living as your authentic self or in the pursuit of your dreams or maybe you are at a crossroads and need to summon up the courage to navigate your journey. Whatever your life is right now, whatever you need, add a small dose of your most courageous self to beat your dragon and maybe you'll inspire someone inadvertently to do the very same.
Happy holidays,
Ux
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