Courage

There was a quote that I read that went something like courage is facing defeat without losing heart. I thought that to be a beautiful thing. Recently I attended a singing competition with my students. I played piano while they performed a classical song in front of a music professor.

As my students sang their songs, I started to realize just how courageous they are for doing that. They are such brave souls for getting up in front of a stranger and putting themselves out there. It's a very vulnerable spot to stand, put your emotions and heart out there and possibly get absolutely rejected.

They reminded me how important it is to be brave and courageous.

When your world is turned upside down,
not slightly nor subtlety but drastically,
you try to reach inside your head for
context, a word, a thought
that could bring you back to something familiar.

Nothing comes to you,
instead you draw a blank,
then your eyes start to tear up
and that's about as much as you can muster.

Everything is colored in a new light
and you know there is no going back.
You know truly that what was, was then
and this is now, a world turned upside down.

It pains you, strains you and pulls you
into something new.
A strange, scary new context, word, thought
that becomes familiar over time.

Over time and only over time will things get better,
which only means the world must turn again
in some form or fashion,
for a stagnant soul is one that has stopped living.

Peace,
C