19 Comments

Great advice. Thanks for the reminder.

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Wonderful post and excellent links, thank you!

To live any kind of life every day takes courage, without doubt. As much for youngsters, teenagers, twenty somethings, forty somethings and then we oldies.

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Hi Prue, Your point is well-taken. Youngsters, teens, people of every age display courage daily.

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I apologise if I sounded critical as I certainly didn't intend to be - the way you always express the deeper and very meaningful things in life is always appreciated.

It's just that this year, I watched my little grandson being very courageous as he attended his first ever year of school - tough for a 4 year old.

And my daughter and my son have both suffered shockers of events which have required courage from so deep within that I wondered if they could hold their breath long enough to dive down to retrieve it.

Sometimes I think the Fates play very unkindly with humans. Courage is what we have to dig to find, don't we? Your post was so apposite and well-received.

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Hi Prue, Actually I wanted to thank you for your comment - people of all ages do show courage - all the time. I hope your daughter and your son are doing well.

Do you suppose courage is a skill people build - that every time they use it - it strengthens?

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I'd like to think that adversity has its positives. That every time we're struck down, another bone in our spine is strengthened with the courage we use to push ourselves on again. It might only be a smidgeon, but smidgeons amass. That's my hope, anyway. XXXX

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Your words are always golden! You give us so much to ponder and hopefully to act upon. Your advice is spot on and I, for one, appreciate every bit of it! So, thank you, sincerely.

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Hi Karen, Thank you so much. That means a lot to me.

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Extremely true about the courage of surviving the day to day 🙏

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What an upbeat, encouraging article. I have never broken down the word before - en-courage - to give someone courage. That is what you do. Great writing, Janice, as always! I always walk away from reading Aging Well feeling... um...... WELL!

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Hi Sharron, and feeling courageous about every step you have taken to get to this point? Thank you for reading and for your kind comments.

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When we have had someone to lean on for many years and then that's gone, it can take courage just to start your day. Little by little, by experimenting as you said, your courage starts to embrace you and you it.

With kindness as your compass, you can achieve so much. And you will.

Thank you for the sweet reference to my article about Assertive Kindness. I'd like to say that I have that mastered....but not yet. Still a work in progress! 💚

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Hi Heather, So true - it does take courage to start some days. When I think in terms of everyday courage and assertive kindness - it makes starting them a bit easier. As you say, a work in progress.

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Janice thank you so much for quoting & sharing my article❤ It is deeply meaningful to me to know that my words may have had a lasting impact, beyond a quick read, on a reader.

As prue mentioned in the comments, sometimes it seems as if the Fates play unkindly with the humans! This is why it's our job to step up to the plate and take responsibility for our lives, as you said. As much as we want to change the system, and the whole world most days, we can't. But we can work deeply on ourselves and go forward from that place of light and emotional maturity to create change within our sphere, whatever that may be.

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Hi Donna, Well said. That's really the only thing I have to work with -isn't it.

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Oh this is good! I rarely saw anything I did as an act of courage until recently.

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Hi Patti, I hadn't either . . . it does make a difference.

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Facing things with courage makes it easier ❤️

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That it does.

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