Couragekeepers: Uncovering the Hero Within

Perfectly put. Verbal vomit and non stop “correction” only comes off as non productive criticism. Neutrality, compassion and a willingness to listen is a gift of love.

⚖ Accountability is not punishment - it’s growth in action.

Sometimes it stings because it touches the part of you that knows better is possible. But real healing begins when we get honest with how our energy affects others.

💡 Growth isn't always comfortable, but it is always worth it.

Grateful for the existence of the rules of International Humanitarian Law that cover the protection of civilians, prisoners of war, wounded soldiers as well as many other wartime considerations, some of which include:
protection of humanitarian relief workers, hospitals, civilian facilities and the regulation of the use of certain types of weapons, the protection of places of cultural, historical, religious and/or environmental significance.

One of my greatest honors was to have once been an IHL instructor at my local chapter of the American Red Cross, wherein I had the opportunity to joinwith members of the local JAG corps along with speakers from the American Red Cross as well as a representative of the ICRC in order to hold an IHL conference for local leaders, and lawyers. I also had the opportunity to speak to youth in those days, some of whom joined the military. It is my sincere hope that the things they learned back then might have positively influenced and shaped the way they treat others as leaders in their respective spheres of influence today.

Although the ideal would be to have a world at peace rather than in conflict, it is encouraging to remember that because of rules of war and the establishment of The International Committee of the Red Cross through the legacy of Henri Dunant, we still have individuals right now who are bravely working in areas of violent conflict and who dedicate themselves to impartiality and neutrality in order to encourage restraint, compassion, and humanitarian considerations during times of war. Their tireless, valiant and unsung efforts are invaluable in protecting people and communities in our world from even more unimaginable horrors. Their mandate to help temper unnecessary, excessive force and unrestrained violence make these men and women of the ICRC true heroes and in my book!

On June 24th, 1859, Henry Dunant witnessed the horrors of the Battle of Solferino.

This inspired him to propose a treaty for armies to care for wounded soldiers & create national societies to support military medical services. In 1863, he co-founded the International Committee of the Red Cross 👇🏽

Courage isn’t always in the big things. Sometimes consistency and persistence in the simple things are also incredible acts of bravery.

Many things rob us of our peace of mind and ability to rest. Then we feel guilty that we are grumpy or ineffective because we have neglected our bodies, minds, and spirits. It’s time to have mercy on ourselves! I encourage you to treat yourself with compassion, forgive yourself for your mistakes, and find a way to soothe your mind in a way that does not include the use of mind altering substances.

If you are suffering from serious insomnia, anxiety, or overthinking, it may indicate an underlying physical condition which is interfering with your ability to rest. A wonderful book to explain these conditions and how to find a happier brain is the book “This is Your Brain on Joy” by one of my favorite people, brain trauma and relationship expert Dr. Earl Henslin. www.drhenslin.com has helped my family and so many who have suffered from brain trauma and environmental toxins to the brain. His knowledge of nutritional supplements and his use of Brain Spect imaging makes him the perfect holistic practitioner on brain issues.

Another incredible and highly effective way to calm your limbic system is through and a great link to learning how to access that inner wealth of information our hearts know instinctively, for example- how to increase peace and clarity through our own inner wisdom. Great growth and self renewal techniques can be found through www.heartmastery.com with and the wonderful people at Heart Ambassadors.

Above all, the person to turn to for the choice of self-care will always, and above all, BE YOU! You are incredible!

Thank you for journaling through this page and joining our community! Message me for more ways to learn how to achieve your deepest desires. I’m here to help!

Some great words to remind us to reinvigorate are: recharge, reinvent, recess, repair, reimagine, rest, recapture.
At we talk about journaling courage to “uncover the hero within”. But let’s clarify what we mean by the word “hero”!

Heroes aren’t extra-ordinary beings with unnatural abilities who need to rescue everyone else. To me, becoming a hero means learning the tools of self-care in order to access self-confidence and resilience. It is becoming a human being who knows themselves, likes themselves and imbued with that self-confidence can then share the tools of self-esteem with others in simple, compassionate ways. Sometimes the impact is huge, sometimes our influence goes unnoticed, but to learn to show care for ourselves is enough to change the energy of our surroundings into something more positive, and that is “heroic” in my book! 🤗🧡🤗

Learning how to replenish ourselves ( another great R word in COURAGE) is a great tool for achieving inner peace. Meditation, Sleeping when tired, learning to get away temporarily from what is troubling us by enjoying a break —any or all of these habits are a perfect sign that we are learning that in order to be useful to ourselves and for others, time for ourselves is required.

-care

I will take time to rest, relax and recharge today:

1. Think of the most powerful positive influences in your life and how they made you feel. If you can’t think of any, then imagine who you would want to be with and how and where you would want to be with them.

2. Journal that world you would wish for your best you in great detail. Believe you deserve that world. Boldly search for each element of that world every day and add it, piece by piece in your life as best you can.

3. Celebrate each time you put another piece of that dream into your physical surroundings or into your heart.

Maybe my story will help:

Today when I filled out the answer to the question posed, I surprised myself as I mind-mapped and practically filled every inch of both sides of a page with automatic writing about people, places, environments, animals, things of beauty, nature, museums, monuments, waterfalls, countries, languages…a world of positives that sometimes can be totally hidden from my heart when I get down, or engage in self-pity or blame and judgment of myself or others.

Those negative emotions only help me spiral, while focusing on the “O” ( optimism) in the word COURAGE allows me to raise my energy levels, lighten my step and fill my soul with gratitude for everything that could possibly feed me and strengthen my resolve to try to do better and be better —just a little bit more than before.

Not condemning myself to crippling perfection, just trying to be a little kinder, happier, calmer, a more grateful me.

A me that is willing to try again, without judgement against myself, or bringing in the past into my present or my creation of the future.

I imagine how I will fully appreciate the “story of me”. The real me, the deep inside me, a person who knows I am a wonderful human being, with a spark of Divine within that deserves to be treated with love, dignity and respect by all and who treats others that way because they deserve it as much as I do.

the of for and

Can you imagine a world where you are your highest and better self? Then journal it now! 🤗🧡🤗

Today’s question elicited a complex response from me as I pondered my upcoming birthday. Here’s how I answered the G in Courage:
I am constantly striving to become a more productive and peaceful personality. I want to be a peacebuilder who inspires by example not just by lecturing about something that I am unable to master myself. That is why I admire individuals who are relentless in refining themselves and I call those people because they are striving to raise their own awareness so they may be a positive impact on the environment they dwell in. Even if they are not famous in the sense the world defines fame, they are change agents and light workers in a world that glorifies wealth and power over collaboration compassion, and altruism. These people forge a path for themselves and others, never giving up on the ultimate goal of spreading frequencies of gratitude, generosity and authentic love, self care and kindness towards all living things on earth.
Do you agree that this is the kind of person that you wish to become and hang around with? If so, message me and join our community!

Change is possible. We can find new songs to sing. The stories we tell about ourselves ...our hurts, victimization, other’s offenses, blame, past injustices, and our pains and our grievances can be transformed into lessons put into an optimistic
explanatory style. The pain is still is truth, and doesn’t need to be denied, just seen from a perspective of hope, faith and love, and a good dose of forgiveness instead of unresolved angst.

The statistics are sobering. The facts are there. On this month celebrating let us not just romanticize the past, the joy of attending a pow wow or our feelings about dream catchers and turquoise jewelry. Yes they are beautiful, as are all native art forms which i so adore as a former attorney for the Native American Intertribal Association of Tennesse. But much more importantly, we must recognize the truth about what is happening to indigenous women and Hispanic women who are missing, exploitd or murdered more than any other minority group of women in our country. Check out the facts through the information provided by the Bureau of Indian affairs at https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people-crisis

Courage comes in many forms. Some of us are cause fighters, some of us speak our truth in the quiet way in which we live our lives in integrity. Defending truth, standing up against injustice does not always demand a shrill voice to pierce evil. Sometimes the still@small voice of living your conscience peacefully is a most powerful influencer! Be true to yourself.

TODAY'S JOURNAL QUESTION IS:
What steps did you take today to rest, play, pray or meditate? Set goals to establish a routine that includes compassionate self-care in order to help you look at life with a fresh perspective.

A modern word for this could be reboot, as in shutting down one's computer and then pressing "restart" in order to evaluate one's systems, eliminate viruses and glitches, and rev up again. The letter R represents rest and regeneration.

A great book with an "R" is Recharge by foremost stress management specialist, Heidi Hanna. One of my favorite sections in this wonderful book is her encouragement to help us learn how to “breathe in” gratitude. She states: "Because we are so busy, we seldom pause to appreciate the fact that every breath is a gift. Every moment we're safe and protected from harm is reason to celebrate. When we acknowledge our current security, we send an important message to the brain that reminds us that all is well. With this sense of gratitude, we stimulate the release of positive endorphins to the brain that cause us to feel relaxed, decrease toxic stress hormones and enhance circulation."

as honors this lioness of a woman on this .

Amy Andrews is a fierce champion for survivors rights, helping empower all from any form of violence towards persons but especially for those suffering traumatic brain injury from trafficking or adverse childhood experiences. Amy’s personal battle with multiple TBI’s resulting from brutality to her person as a youth makes her an knowledgeable voice for understanding, hope and healing.

Amy is not only a certified human trafficking advocate and court advocate but also a poet, artist, public speaker, humanitarian clown and soon to be published author. Check out her impressive dossier on The Survivors Consultation Network, where she is Director and Co-founder.

Amy admits that her past with violent trauma has affected her, leaving her with and which she battles as fiercely within herself as she passionately advocates for other trauma victims. Her life, she matter of factly states is a daily work in progress and she is now the
2023 recipient of the Book Series Lioness Award for Courage Against Improbable Odds. As recipient, Couragekeepers will be publishing for her a short anthology of her poetry, art and journaling and will include Amy as one of the resource persons in our network to promote and to anyone who falls prey to human slavery and oppression.
Congratulations Amy, and thank you for your dedication and passion for the cause!🦁
Amy’s book is called Head, Heart and Fist and in it she states that: “The relentless pursuit of freedom cannot be sustained by those who can be bullied into submission.”

We are at war for the hearts and lives of those who will drastically have been deprived of life and liberty. Statistics show that the lifespan of a non-rescued trafficking victim is only 7-10 years. We can, in simple ways join the fight for peace as Amy is. Stay tuned this week for tips on how to help!


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Links to learn more are in the comments.