Courage comes first.

Courage is the most important of the human experiences.

It's courage that will stimulate you to take risks, to fail, to succeed. It is courage that will have you be real. Courage comes first. Courage is needed to grow. Courage is needed to flow.

We are not born with courage just like we're not born with fear. It is developed.

I have found courage is not developed over time, It's developed over experiences.

It's developed over our power to choose which path serves us deeply.

Scary and unknown, maybe, but which one feels aligned to our depth?

That's the one you get to lead. And that one calls for courage. To take the path that is proceeding to open us up. To choose the one that challenges us and stretches us beyond what we think is possible. Selecting the path that destroys our illusions and lifts us higher. That's the way of courage.

The more we take this path, the bigger the flame of courage within us will grow. From a little spark that comes with our first experience like when we learn how to walk, giving us a taste of physical courage. It then rises into a candle like flame from our first time we go swimming or when we truly let go of something that doesn't serve us, having us experience that mental courage. It then matures into a wildfire that opens our heart to love everything that could hurt us. That emotional courage.

The flame stays fully lit and active only when it's rising.

The flame of courage. It will illuminate your way forward and indirectly help light others way as well.

This way of life will bring your courage to the surface. It will reveal to you your own courage that you yourself have prepared. It's no one else's. It's fully and uniquely yours. Its unmatchable.

You will be surprised by your courage over new and different experiences. If you keep choosing this path of wildness you will develop immense courage.

If you sit down when you are confronted with the difficult path, your courage will remain shy and underdeveloped. Then you will be disappointed with yourself. You will wish with regret later in life. You will have a flame of courage that's dimly lit inside of you that never grows into a fire. It will be premature no matter what your age is. If it's not practiced, it will rest in its infant stages.

That's why sometimes you see a young woman with great courage with fire in her heart that's quick and decisive, and sometimes you see an old man with no courage to move ahead or try anything new.

The flame has to be continuously lit or it will perish. Courage is a gentle experience that is rewarded with new heights each time it's applied. Think of a time you were courageous enough even to your own surprise. How rewarding that must have been.

To speak the truth, you need courage. To be happy, you need courage. To love, you need courage. To trust, you need courage. To bet you, you need courage.

It always comes first. Keep the fire lit. Be courageous!