louder than a lion

Woke up this morning to an unexpected day off...I'll take it!  My car's been needing some work for a long time so I chose to use this day off to take care of my little orange bolt!  Which, for me, means sitting for a very long time in the AAA customer lounge.  As I was sitting here, I just started thinking about the topic of courage.

You might probably guess that I was thinking Biblical courage.  I'm going to have to be honest and tell you that, no, my thoughts on courage today are actually brought to you by Katy Perry.  Let me start from the beginning...

A few months ago I really just thought of Katy Perry as another teen pop star who would probably wear out after a couple of years.  Then a friend of mine suggested I watch her documentary because it would really make me appreciate her more.  My thoughts about that suggestion were "she kissed a girl and she liked it" and she's "hot or she's cold", what else could there be?  Since I had nothing better to do, I actually watched the documentary...and it really did change my perspective on dear Katy (and I also cried...hard). 

The overarching theme throughout this entire documentary was courage.  Katy's life was a life marked by courage (go watch the documentary yourself, you'll see).  It reminded me of this simple truth: I, too, want to live a life that is marked by courage.  

So what classifies a life marked by courage?  Is courage just simple bravery?  Is it standing up for what's right in the face of adversity?  Is it taking risks in the sheer belief that the outcome is worth it?  In my reflection on what it means to be courageous, I've come up with this:  Courage is believing that life is meant to be fulfilling.  It's looking fear in the eye and telling it "no way, you have no place here."  It's being confident in what your calling is and also being willing to follow hard after your calling.  It's knowing that sometimes you're going to have to travel off the path and think outside the box to achieve your dreams.  The life marked by courage is a life lived in ambition, determination, generosity and love.  

When I say I want to live a life marked by courage, I want people to look at me and think all those things.  And even if others don't yet recognize it, I want to live in the confidence that I am following hard after a strong and courageous life.  

Life in abundance as I said yesterday is forsaking normal.  Today I am adding in that life in abundance is life marked by courage.  

Today I'm taking some motivation from Katy Perry:

I've got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire

Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR

Louder, louder than a lion

Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR.

Let the world hear you ROAR today and live the life marked by courage!