Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is being afraid and not letting it stop you.
Rumi says, “Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the earth.”
Notice that Rumi says “we” wake up frightened. When one of history’s greatest mystics includes himself and owns his fear, he teaches us to use fear as a point of solidarity, bringing us together in common cause. Not a reason to isolate and go silent.
Silence and isolation are the “evil twins” that lead to all sorts of problems for providers. Everything from anxiety, depression, and unnecessary conflict to suicidal ideation.
