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Page 1 of 2 Courage! It takes courage to live our passion. To have courage means to be true to ones heart. To have courage means to persevere against all apparent obstacles. True courage is to wake up in the morning with enthusiasm when yesterday felt like a failure. Courage comes from seeing the little victories in a landscape of failures. To have it means to take action against publicly accepted norms because we know in our hearts a better way. Often when we think of courage we think of some distant soldier over there who gave a life. I commend those people for having taken the action they believed in; yet that kind of courage has made little difference in my life. Although it is a hard thing to willingly put ones life in danger for something one believes in; I believe it is equally brave to put ones values and actions forward in opposition to the views of ones community.
I often think of a long standing friend, Norbert Maertens, when I think of courage. He is someone who in the twenty plus years I have known him has continually shown up in integrity with his beliefs. Recognizing the effects of gas on global warming and wars in the world he frequently rides his bicycle in from Lavington. He drives an older vehicle rather than getting caught up in the prestige of new. He is continually active for social change even when he knows his views are not popular with many individuals. It’s not that I necessarily agree with his opinions, in fact in our years co-facilitating a Men’s group I regularly found myself opposed to his opinions. I never found myself opposed to his integrity, to the best of his ability he lives exactly what he believes even when it lies in opposition with the political norm. I don’t run into him every day but when I have the opportunity to show up for Amnesty International events there he is and when there is a peace rally or an organic foods event or a friend needing help moving he is at the front of the line. It takes deep conviction and courage to live in integrity with ones beliefs. In the twenty years I have known Norbert he has been consistent. In his years here in the Okanagan Norbert has become a recognized and dependable presence influencing people on a deep level to make real changes in the world around them. He may or may not live to see the impact of his actions; that is largely irrelevant because he is having an impact and many people old and young have been empowered to live their convictions courageously by his example. Courage is very often the simple act of declaring our willingness to take action just because we recognize a lack of integrity within the system, not because we are roused to anger but rather because we recognize the importance of our voice in the world. There are few rewards that could equal the reward of knowing we have lived fully in alignment with our values and those are often the only rewards received from acts of courage.
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