How to Live Courageously By Osho

"The word courage is very interesting. It comes from a Latin root cor, which means ‘heart’. So to be courageous means to live with the heart. And weaklings, only weaklings, live with the head; afraid, they create a security of logic around themselves. Fearful, they close every window and door - with theology, concepts, words, theories - and inside those closed doors and windows, they hide.

The way of the heart is the way of courage. It is to live in insecurity; it is to live in love, and trust; it is to move in the unknown. It is leaving the past and allowing the future to be. Courage is to move on dangerous paths. Life is dangerous, and only cowards can avoid the danger - but then, they are already dead.

A person who is alive, really alive, vitally alive, will always move into the unknown. There is danger there, but he will take the risk. The heart is always ready to take the risk, the heart is a gambler. The head is a businessman. The head always calculates - it is cunning. The heart is non-calculating."

The 3 most important aspects of courage I think to take away from this quote are…
1. Courage is Not Fearlessness: That’s right. Since you are going to be dealing with the unknown and with uncertainly, there is bound to be apprehension. That’s ok. Courage is to move forward despite this fear. So don’t feel like you lack courage simply because you have fear. Look at the fear as an opportunity to exercise your courage muscle. As Osho would put it, embrace uncertainty.

2. Listen to the Heart, Not the Mind: The mind will endlessly battle for security, it will wobble between the pros and cons. The heart, on the other hand, will help you to jump into the great unknown and help you to be true to your passions.

3. Courage Allows you to Live in the Present: This is the essence of courage. To allow the unknown future to take shape and be willing to move out of the mind and into the moment. So instead of trying to manipulate life to avoid uncertainty, simply take an innocent attitude instead. There are no guarantees here that things will go right, there is only danger and mystery, courage means to be willing to go forward nonetheless.