Courage to be Who You Are!

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.”
E.E. Cummings

We’ve all had defining moments in life (a time when we made a life-changing decision). This and the next EnCOURAGEment message examine two types of defining moments. This week’s is having the courage to become who you really are, and next week’s is having the courage to become more of who you want to be.

In the small town where I grew up, most guys hunted. When I was about 12 years old, I was walking in the woods mindlessly shooting chipmunks with my BB gun when a bird began chirping really loudly at me. I walked closer, thinking the bird would fly away. But it sat on a branch and chirped more loudly. I thought, If you are dumb enough to stay there and chirp at me, I’m gonna shoot you. I raised my gun, it chirped, aimed, it chirped, squeezed the trigger … the bird dropped straight from the tree and hit the ground with a thud.

As I looked at it lying motionless and silent, I thought, That’ll teach you! Then, I heard the faint sounds of baby birds coming from the nest, where the bird had been. When I realized I had killed a parent protecting its babies, I fell to my knees and sobbed. I decided then that I would never shoot another gun or hurt another animal — and I haven’t. This was a defining moment for me. All my friends had guns and shot animals, which made me an outcast at times. It took courage to be different, but it was who I really am. I am an animal lover, and I have never regretted the decision to never hurt an animal again!

Defining moments … are the life-changing decisions you have made.
Are yours really who you are in your deepest self?