-Anne Frank
This last week I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “courage.” One of the roots of this word, and a term that has been rattling in my head, much like a song, is the original latin for the word, which is “Corragio.” It sounds Italian, and worldly, and like something I’d like to yell as I go in to proverbial battle or a painful meeting. It means, “heart,” or “one’s innermost feelings.”
I like that the root of the word courage is tied to something beyond muscle or physical strength. It’s a historical acknowledgement that the hardest things, the things that cause anguish and late nights and tear-filled conversations are the ones that take corragio. We bolster our heart, we hang on to faith, we dig deep when we tap in to courage.
It strikes me that the great teachers, those the most mature in spirit, they are the ones that teach great courage. Anne Frank, though faced with the Halocaust, of an uncertain fate for herself and her family, spread a message of love, of the courage to be happy. The courage to love when others bring discord. The courage to respond peacefully when faced with unrest. This is what each of us is called to do, to listen to the language of our heart, to listen to corragio.
Go with courage today 🙂
Paula