How Our Children Teach Us About Courage
Courage isn’t just about facing challenges, it’s about how we view them in the first place.
Stood at the bottom of the wall, feet comfortably on solid ground, I watched her climb. The progress was slow, it was only her second time, but she was doing better than the first. Hand reaching out following her line of sight, grasping for a secure hold. Toes inching away from safety only to find it once more.
I smiled and chatted to the other parents, asking the usual polite questions but my attention was solely on her. Halfway up, she paused as she had done many times already but now a minute extended, and I wondered if she was okay.
Calling her name, she didn’t look down to meet my questioning gaze. Her body was still but not motionless. Her hands were gripping on as hard as they could, and there was a tremble in her trouser legs, exposing the truth of the nerves beneath the surface.
‘You’ve got this.’
I called out. Trying to imbue my tone with the strength I knew she had within her. Trying to communicate my faith in her and her ability to do the hard thing in front of her. Face centimeters from a wall, attached only with ropes that she probably wouldn’t completely trust. Full well knowing that it was easy to say with my feet firmly safe on the floor, muscles not being challenged…
