The Courage It Takes

On This Walk

Over our first three episodes, I’ve noticed that there’s an inescapable common theme: courage.

It takes courage to walk away from old patterns, old ways of being, old aspects of identity by which others know you, and by which you’ve known yourself your entire life.

It takes courage to step into the unknown, the in between, to find steady footing on the shaky ground of transition.

(In fact, if a transition feels too easy, it might be because we moved too quickly, trying to fill up the emptiness inherent to the unknown, to new beginnings.)

This show is going to place The Courage It Takes front and center. We’ll talk about the various stages we encounter as we instigate and cycle through change within our lives. I believe there’s value in paying close attention to the “in between” — that wonderful stage I have come to know so well, of being “no longer” in one place and “not yet” in the next.

To navigate this walk, I’ve invited a new guest to our show, and invited back a familiar face from Episode 1.

In This Episode

• (03:40) Finding the courage to move in new directions and rediscover ourselves
• (10:45) How Marni’s year of radical faith strengthened her “courage muscle”
• (13:06) Michael on the rewards of allowing our higher selves to make courageous decisions
• (22:48) Marni’s fight for her life as her source of courage
• (25:24) Michael’s concept of courage as an energy inherent in each of us
• (31:49) Self-acceptance, authenticity and intuition as key elements of courage
• (40:10) How are you being asked to be courageous right now, at this moment in life?
• (44:02) How to embrace uncertainty while having faith in the idea of “divine timing”
• (49:56) “Trust the ceremony”: returning to our places of inner courage
• (56:40) Why courage requires bold and radical action

Notable Quotes

• “I remember this moment where I was like, if I can't dig deep for myself – because at that time I didn't even feel worthy of it – I thought about the fact that the universe gave me three daughters and I was like, I have to be courageous for them because the one thing I wanna be is an awesome mom. And I might be a complete disaster in all these other ten things. And that was the first time where I was like, I don't wanna do this. I wanna hide. I wanna shut down. I wanna quit. And I remember just thinking, like I have to have something to fight for. And at that time it was that energy of fighting for my life. That was the beginning of that courage. And I think over time, that energy shifts, but sometimes when you're really in that broken place, like you gotta find something to fight for.” – Marni (22:48)
• “I really think that courage is an energy that is inherent in every single human being. … I believe it's inherent to who we are as souls, to who we are as spirits in our divinity. When we remember to connect to our divinity, it is easier to be courageous because that is an energy that is instilled in us from birth. I mean, just look at toddlers, look at infants. They're just like all over the place. They have no fear of the unknown. It’s the ego that has the fear.” – Michael (25:24)

Our Guests

Transformational leader and coach Marni Battista is the founder of The Institute for Living Courageously and Dating with Dignity. She is also the host of the podcast Life Check Yourself and author of memoir/self-help book “How to Find a Quality Guy Without Going on 200 Dates.” Marni’s work has been featured in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, The Oprah Magazine and on Dr. Phil.

Doctoral-trained therapist and healing practitioner Michael Smith is the founder of Empath Connection. As a leader in mind-body holistic healing for nearly two decades, Michael has personally coached thousands of individuals to make stronger connections between mind, body, and spirit.

Resources & Links

On This Walk

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• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukeiorio/
• https://instagram.com/dlukeiorio
• https://instagram.com/onthiswalkshow