We are what we think

I think it goes without saying that we humans hide things and hide from things.

Most of the time we're living a sort of illusion, the pages of a play, a character in a novel, a life determined by someone else.

For years. Lifetimes!

I did myself a favour some time ago and watched a Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) reality documentary which followed the journey of a group of adults who had significant literacy challenges - Lost for Words. The program they followed lasted nine weeks and led them through  a series of exercises and lessons based on their real life experiences, needs and desires. While it was informative, it was also very moving. Here were people leading their lives in frustration and sometimes near despair simply because they couldn't communicate clearly what they wanted or how they felt. In fact, it seemed to me that their lives were leading them rather than the other way around. The joy at the end of their experience was tangible, breathable and I began to wonder about how truly separate I am from others because I don't listen or don't have the language to make the real connection.

It has made me want to slow down more. I want to be able to live more in the gaps between the events that make up the busy-ness of life. 

So maybe if I did everything more slowly, deliberately and with awareness I might experience happiness. 

What struck me about all of the participants was their courage. 

I think people aren't 'courageous' until they take the step that says: I suspect this will be hard. I might not even last the distance. I feel scared. All I can control is this next decision. Let's jump. 

And then they do it all over again! Courage isn't a virtue, like a personality trait. It's an action that results from a decision.