The Courage To Be Real...
I thought I knew what courage is...stopping your car to save someone from jumping off of a bridge or diving into dangerous waters to save a drowning man... yes, perhaps.
What about telling people who we really are flaws and all. Our weaknesses exposed. No guarantee of acceptance or approval,perhaps even rejection for something that no one ever need know.Except that there is a something beautiful and ultimately noble in anyone who has decided to be authentic at any price.To add significance to this decision, try this when you are a teenager. This is a time when life is raw because everything everyone thinks about you is important. So, the very act of becoming authentic by telling the world about your weakness of any sort is truly an act of courage. It is diametrically opposed to any sense of social survival during this time to expose what might be weak or wrong with yourself to the rest of the world.
I know of two young people who have done this. The first one, a young woman now 18 years of age,told anyone who cared to know that she suffered from depression and had struggled with self-harm in the form of "cutting" for sometime. She has even set up a helping website for those struggling with this personal hell. The other teenager , a young man of 15 years of age,has made an announcment on facebook that he is depressed and is receiving help and medication. When I asked him why he did this, he said that he did not want to "hide" and then he said, "If they know, how can they hurt me now?"
I am not fully authentic. There is much that people don't know about me. I desire authenticity perhaps more than many things I thought I wanted. But I wonder at the courage of these young people and I long for a time in my life when I will have the same courage to live authentically.
Many families have scholars and athletes for children who soar to heights of local fame and glory. I now know that these 2 children of mine and the oldest as well (who has faced down authority for the sake of the others at great jeopardy to herself) are my heroes. In some strange way , they have become my role models. I have never been prouder of those children of mine for the authenticity in their lives that I hope to someday have in my life...
I thought I knew what courage is...stopping your car to save someone from jumping off of a bridge or diving into dangerous waters to save a drowning man... yes, perhaps.
What about telling people who we really are flaws and all. Our weaknesses exposed. No guarantee of acceptance or approval,perhaps even rejection for something that no one ever need know.Except that there is a something beautiful and ultimately noble in anyone who has decided to be authentic at any price.To add significance to this decision, try this when you are a teenager. This is a time when life is raw because everything everyone thinks about you is important. So, the very act of becoming authentic by telling the world about your weakness of any sort is truly an act of courage. It is diametrically opposed to any sense of social survival during this time to expose what might be weak or wrong with yourself to the rest of the world.
I know of two young people who have done this. The first one, a young woman now 18 years of age,told anyone who cared to know that she suffered from depression and had struggled with self-harm in the form of "cutting" for sometime. She has even set up a helping website for those struggling with this personal hell. The other teenager , a young man of 15 years of age,has made an announcment on facebook that he is depressed and is receiving help and medication. When I asked him why he did this, he said that he did not want to "hide" and then he said, "If they know, how can they hurt me now?"
I am not fully authentic. There is much that people don't know about me. I desire authenticity perhaps more than many things I thought I wanted. But I wonder at the courage of these young people and I long for a time in my life when I will have the same courage to live authentically.
Many families have scholars and athletes for children who soar to heights of local fame and glory. I now know that these 2 children of mine and the oldest as well (who has faced down authority for the sake of the others at great jeopardy to herself) are my heroes. In some strange way , they have become my role models. I have never been prouder of those children of mine for the authenticity in their lives that I hope to someday have in my life...
posted by mark at 11:38 PM
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