I grew up believing courage was about heroes jumping off mountains and running into burning buildings, 300 Spartan warriors standing against the invading Persian army-the kind of thing that is celebrated in epic poems and Hollywood blockbusters. But life has taught me something different. Courage does not just have to look spectacular. In fact, much more often, courage lives in the everyday.
When I was a young, inexperienced fighter pilot, I lived with this constant fear that I didn't belong and wasn't good enough. I'd walk into a briefing room and feel like everyone else had it together. Meanwhile, I was hyperaware of everything I said and did as I tried to live up to my idea of what the perfect fighter pilot was.
Imagine the negative event or possibility in question and feel the intensity of the feeling you experience in catastrophizing about it. While keying into your negative feeling, rank how bad the event in question feels on the 10-point negative values scale. Focus now on rationally assessing how bad the possibility really is. When you think of very bad things like earthquakes and tsunamis, is this truly as bad as
You may have seen my TEDx talk. If so, you know its premise is having the courage to take a leap. My first story was about the first time I jumped off a high dive at the swimming pool. The second story was the leap of coming out. Both of those were scary. Did they prepare me for leaping out of plane 14,500 feet in the air? Not so much. You can't die from the first two.
You inspire fear in those that are afraid of being their true selves. I think that's the threat, your joy, and your radical bravery in living your life in joy.
"When legal immigrants and others who are lawfully in this country, including so many of your international students, worry about being wrongly detained and even deported, perhaps it's fitting that you hear from an immigrant like me."
At the heart of every marriage, there dawns an elemental shock of realization, that we have made vows to a stranger whom we must get to know; both in ourselves and the other; these difficult revelations can consign us to a sense of imprisonment or help us become larger, kinder, more generous.
It's a privilege being an actor as it allows me to explore the realities of journalists like Anna Politkovskaya from a safe distance, realizing their extraordinary bravery.
