Photo credit: Mathias Appel on Visualhunt.com

These days, the willingness to be vulnerable, to come from the heart, which is the seat of courage, is much on my mind as we enter the Chinese Year of the Water Tiger.

When I visualize a tiger I see a sleek animal with laser focus leaping after its prey. Adding the energy of water makes that power malleable and fluid so 2022 promises to be a year of great change according to Chinese astrology.

My hope is that Water Tiger energy can cut through the endless Groundhog Day we’re living as we enter a third year of pandemic disruption. Will Punxsutawney Phil ever see his shadow? These days, feeling bleak is easy. Finding the courage to endure is difficult. And to endure with patience and grace seems miraculous.

I’m talking about quiet courage, the kind that doesn’t roar, but instead perseveres. That quality – the ability to keep on keeping on – is what’s being asked of us as we slog through the fourth Covid 19 surge, confront a hostile, divided political landscape, and endure an avalanche of weird weather disasters.

A friend from my meditation group had some helpful insights when I shared my musing.

“Listening with an open heart is love in action,” he told me. “It occurred to me one day that it is about 18 inches from my head to my heart. So, I remind myself frequently to take the 18-inch drop and come from my heart.”

Most often, we think of courage as bravery in the face of danger, overcoming fear in order to act, or as moral courage that gives us the ability to stand up for what’s right. There are multiple definitions, of course. But I like the 18-inch drop best.

It reminds me that in tough times when my brain swirls with plans, or I get caught up in fear, or predictions of  dire events  – what we used to call “future tripping” – I’m really just trying to avoid feeling vulnerable. Most of us fear feeling exposed to judgment by others or worse, to self-judgement. The only antidote I know of is compassion.

So how do I summon compassion in the face of seemingly daily setbacks and losses?  My friend gave me an important clue: I have to have the courage to make the journey from my head to my heart, to take the 18-inch drop over and over.

I love this insight from the writer Mary Anne Radmacher: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’”

Tigers are stealthy, and perhaps Chinese Water Tigers doubly so. They know how to blend into their environment and wait for the perfect time to leap. They don’t always get their prey or reach their goal on the first try. So, if we all roar a bit less and patiently focus a bit more, if we remember to take the 18-inch drop, 2022 promises to be a year of more courage and compassion.

This post is based on one of my recent “Bright Side” columns in the Rossmoor News.

Photo credit: Mathias Appel on Visualhunt.com