naïvety and courage

Some are called naive because the believe that there is good in all people - but how can every single person possibly be inherently good? That leaves you be a hopeless optimistic and leaves room for disappointment and hurt. Others are so because they are skeptical about all people - and how can every single person be inherently selfish/bad? That leaves no room for anyone to be good even if they wanted to. So is being naive simply a positive way of calling on our ignorance? Is it simply a way to reject the realities of the world? Or is it a method of survival? Maybe people choose to believe what they do because it helps them survive. The whole facts of the world even combined are not powerful enough to give us the strength to survive each day. It's the power of the mind and heart alone. It's the simple abstract things we call feelings that keep us going. A person can be unhappy with all the riches in the world, with all the relationships they need and want, and with all the attention possible to get. And the same person on the other side of the world can find peace and happiness in the bare necessities, with responsibilities, and on the backstage of the show we call life.

I'm on a journey each day, making small achievements, and making small mistakes as well on the way. There are moments that make me want to run away, but when running away isn't an option, I force myself to bear those moments - "it will pass," I tell myself. Where does courage come from? I think maybe from the same place as fear. The feelings of fear that surface within us are first projected there by those that maybe want us to feel that way, and then by us when we give those feelings a stand. And then, as if a feedback loop, we start harnessing and nurturing those feelings, good or bad, into something bigger - our habits, beliefs, and lifestyle. On a daily basis, I think it's not possible to fight all fears we have. In fact, it's not even necessary. Someone once said to me, "Life is hard enough. We don't have to make it harder for ourselves." Therefore, somewhere there must be a balance between pushing ourselves, facing our fears, and at the same time, finding a place of comfort. We need not try to prove ourselves heroic by fighting every single battle and by fighting every single day.

All this probes me to believe then that while our naïvety is a necessary practice for survival, we always have courage hibernating within us, but needs to be awakened by our support system (our friends, families) and also by these moments where fear slashes through our cloaks of ignorance. But to truly face the fears, and not wait for the moments pass quickly, we need to give courage a permanent place in our hearts and minds.