If you think about the entire existence of the Universe, your life span could be compared to lighting a candle and immediately blowing it out. In other words, life is short – very short. Missing out on any of the joys life offers is a tragedy.

If your life is being controlled by your fears, you are most certainly cheating yourself, as well as those around you. If you are controlled by your fears you are not open to share your greatness with others and this is denying them the opportunity to learn from you.

You have muscles and you exercise to keep them strong and healthy. They say the heart is the largest muscle we have. I suppose it is probably the largest physical muscle, but Courage is the mental muscle that conquers fear. Like all muscles, the more you use them the stronger they become. Courage is not something you are born with, it must be developed.

No one wants to be in prison but individuals who fail to develop courage, remain confined in mental prisons and face each day as mental lightweights.

It has been said if you face the thing you fear, fear leaves you.

I used to believe that courageous individuals had no fear. Now I realize that everyone has fear, it’s just that courageous people understand the importance of facing their fears and taming them like a wild jungle cat. Eddie Rickenbacker put it very well when he said, “There is no courage without fear.” We all have fear; however, not everyone becomes subservient to their fears.

There is, very likely, something you have wanted to do for years – move to another city, start your own business, apply for that better position, go after the big account, ask someone to marry you, buy a house, start a family. Whatever it is you should do it. Remember, life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it. Curtain up, show time! A little courage leads to more courage; it’s like a snowball rolling downhill.

Observe those poor souls who are without courage. They merely tiptoe through life hoping they make it safely to death.

You and I were never meant to live that way. Learn to live the way you like by no longer living as you dislike.

What will you do today to attack the remainder of your day with an abundance of courage?

That’s living!