lessons from the trail part 7 - courage not available everywhere

I saw the cutest commercial on television the other night.  a man looks in the mirror, shakes his belly, and sighs.

next shot he's at a food wagon, orders a cheeseburger, looks at the calories on the mobile app and changes it to a salad.

shows him exercising.

shows him getting a picture from his kids holding signes that say "you can do it dad".

last scene, he's putting on a tux and his daughter in her wedding dress says "i'm so proud of you, dad".

i didn't know what the commercial was for, but at the bottom of the screen i caught the words "courage not available everywhere".  i saw it was a verizon commercial and quickly corrected my reading to "coverage not available everywhere".

that thought has stuck.

"courage not available everywhere"

i talked about courage here,  one of my favorite courage quotes.

courage definined by dictionary.com "the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery."

i saw this commercial on a down day.  does anybody besides me have those?  something pulls you down and you just can't shake it.  at some point i'll end up in tears behind my sunglasses or in the shower or in the car.  because i hide to cry.

days and places i don't have courage.  it's not available. i can't pull my head and my heart out of a bad place.    

i've had people ask me after the rattlesnake and the waist deep water crossing and the foray up the mountain side with the snake attack how i can still go climbing and running trails with the wildlife.  i told sheila the other day it's just a different kind of predator. 

and in my personal life, i've been knocked down to have to get back up more times than i can count.  more than i want to think about.  how do you move forward when you feel the whole world is holding you back.  you have to find the courage to get up and try again. 

courage didn't used to be available to me many places.  i would stay on the trail.  i wouldn't run it by myself.  i was scared of what was out there.  i was scared i couldn't do it.  i was scared someone, anyone would see me fail.  i was scared i'd be weak, slow, less than everyone else.  and i missed a lot.

i also have fears that i'm not as good a mom, wife, sister, daughter, employee, person as everyone else.  i'm not pretty enough, smart enough, it's a recurring theme for me. 

but i've found the courage to be more.  to face difficulty.  danger, pain.  even with fear, i face it.  and i'm not as afraid anymore.  in life or on the trail.    

courage is not available everywhere.  but only because i don't tap into the correct source of strength. 

2 timothy 1:7 "for god has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

fear is not from god. 

phillipians 4:13 "i can do all things because he gives me strength."

courage can be available everywhere.

where do you feel weak?  where do you find your courage?