why

  Here's what is truly at the heart of whole-heartedness: Worthy now.  Not if.  Not when.  We are worthy of love and belonging now.  Right this minute.  As is.

Letting go of our prerequisites for worthiness means making the long walk from “What will people think?” to “I am enough”.   But, like all great journeys, this walk starts with one step, and the first step in the wholehearted journey is practicing courage.

The root of the word courage is cor -- the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage had a very different definition than it does today. Courage originally meant to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.

Over time, this definition has changed, and, today, courage is more synonymous with being heroic. Heroics are important and we certainly need heroes, but I think we've lost touch with the idea that speaking honestly and openly about who we are, about what we're feeling, and about our experiences (good and bad) is the definition of courage.

Heroics are often about putting our life on the line. Courage is about putting our vulnerability on the line. If we want to live and love with our whole hearts and engage in the world from a place of worthiness, our first step is practicing the courage it takes to own our stories and tell the truth about who we are. It doesn't get braver than that.