On Courage: Reflections from One Conversation with Caroline Pankhurst
There is something I must tell you. It is something I learned from Caroline today. I ask that you pass it on. In fact, I will shout it far and wide, and I hope you will too. Ready for it?
Women are the very manifestation of courage.
I am going to say it one more time, before I go on.
Women are the very manifestation of courage.
I believe there is a narrative in society contrary to this or, at least, incompatible. The narrative is that men are the courageous ones and women, weak and meek, follow behind.
When you think about it, though, men over the course of history (at least modern history) have had it easier. Men do not swim upstream in the sea of patriarchy as women do. Men do not face “prove it again” bias in which, like women, they need to continually demonstrate their worth and deservedness, or face accusations of “luck,” or worse. Think, too, of childbirth – is there any more courageous act than growing and then pushing into the world another human being?
The thing is, what Caroline sees from her research is that, as women, we often see courage in each other. Rarely a day goes by when she doesn’t stand in awe of one (or more) of the incredible women she has the privilege to coach and, simultaneously, learn from and be inspired by through Be Braver. What the research shows is that what is rarer, somehow, is seeing courage in ourselves.
We seem to discount our own courage, perhaps feeling most connected to it when we are aligned with a purpose greater than ourselves.
I now will ask you a question that may quite possibly change the entire trajectory of your life:
How would you show up differently if you saw yourself as a source of courage?
Imagine the greater impact could you have in your career, in your family and, ultimately, on the world.
Cast in different way, also ask yourself:
What or who is benefitting from your not showing up as your most courageous self?
Chances are, it’s the status quo and those who peddle it, slavishly tied to a structure and system designed to oppress and degrade women.
Many years ago, when Caroline first began having her epiphanies around courage, she asked herself what was the most courageous thing she – as someone who was raised to believe and, consequently, believed that she was not that smart – could do. She decided it was going back to education to get a post-grad in psychology followed by a PhD. So she did. Her thesis is on the topic of courage in women.
Ask yourself, too:
What is the most courageous thing you could do right now?
It Caroline’s mission in life to not only pass on this courage knowledge and way of being to other women but, far more importantly, provide the tools and space for women to discover it in themselves.
As Glinda the Good Witch says to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “You always had the power my dear; you just had to learn it for yourself.”
So, too, with courage.
Join us.