Grandmother Courage

"We need the courage to create ourselves daily, to be bodacious enough to create ourselves each morning -- and to say very simply, with hope, Good Morning."          ~ Maya Angelou ~

I was young and she was old but I knew her dreams were spun in gold....  When we met she was already cloaked in the beauty of age.  She had let go her roles of daughter, wife, mother, and accepted her position as grandmother to all.  Her cloak of age was woven with golden threads of wisdom which were the guiding lights of her life.  She knew the value of creating herself daily and always remembered to greet each day with a simple "Good Morning"

She was great grandmother to me, my first mentor, and my friend. I wonder how many of us have had such a person in our lives?  I realize that there have been many such people in my life if I take the time to recognize them.  The opening quote in this post is by Maya Angelou who served as such a mentor to me even though I had never met her personally.  Her written and spoken words and her life presented and modeled to me things I aspire to.

Mentors and teachers are all around if we take the time to stop and look.  Hearing a part of a conversation as I pass by a group of people, or sitting in a crowded restaurant, can offer wisdom to me; especially if I approach these situations with an open mind. Random encounters often lead to deeper self understanding and awareness.

I met such a professor at a seminar I attended in 1980 at Tulane University in New Orleans.  This encounter allowed me to look outside the walls of academia for wisdom rather than just seeking knowledge.  When the desire for wisdom is awakened we begin the journey that we took birth for.  

I have found that if I am still, look, and listen wisdom is all around me.  It often takes Grandmother Courage to allow this wisdom a path into my being.  To remember to awaken each morning and greet each day with a simple and quiet "good morning".  To claim my Grandmother Courage requires that I find and listen to those who hold such wisdom for me.  My sons have offered this to me throughout their lives.  It's not their age but is the wisdom that innately resides within.  They often teach me.  It's the friend who in her/his struggles provide me with insight into my own life.  The chance phrase I hear as I pass a group of people and the realization that the phrase applies to me.  

Grandmother Courage shows me how these things apply to me.  As a child it was easy to see the wisdom that my grandparents imparted.  As an adult, old enough to be a grandparent, it is having the courage to listen to and accept this wisdom irrespective of the source.  This courage helps me sift the wheat from the chaff as I discern the difference between truths and cleverly presented lies.  

Lies are often wrapped in a package of illusion, sometimes cleverly disguised as truths.  Grandmother Courage supplies me wisdom; this teaches me discernment and that allows me to only choose what is in my best long term interest.  With time and patience this wisdom guides my life's choices.     

   
Honoring myself I always honor all others.  My choices may not always make others happy but by staying true to what is in my best interest I can accept and live with others disappointments in me.  Grandmother Courage helps me remain true to myself; first and foremost.  Wisdom comes from many sources; it is not important that I like these sources, but it is important that I learn to separate the wisdom from the source and not loose myself in the source when I merely need to take from my experiences the lessons/wisdom.  From this comes discernment, and from discernment I learn to be impeccable in my thoughts and actions.