We live in an age of cowards. Of people going along with the crowd because it’s the easy thing to do. It feels safer to throw stones at the other side than it does to stand for something positive and hopeful. There’s risk in questioning things and seeking other perspectives, whereas joining in the mob costs us nothing (except perhaps our character).

But maybe things have always been this way.

It’s still difficult for most people to wrap their minds around the Holocaust, how so many people just went along with it. The more I learn about psychology, the more I understand how it happened, but it doesn’t make the lack of courage any more appalling.

As a kid learning about WWII, I had no doubt in my mind that I would have done the right thing had I been in Germany at that time. I’m less sure now that I’m older but I hope I would have acted like a man I learned about when visiting Berlin’s Topography of Terror.

In a black and white photo at this museum, I saw a crowd of mostly men raising their arms in the nazi salute but one man did not join them.

Wow. Can you imagine yourself doing the same?

Courage doesn’t have to be as grand as being part of the nazi resistance.

It can be as small as offering to help a stranger on the sidewalk. In your mind, you might debate, “Well, do they really need my help? Would I offend them if I offered to open the door for them?” And you might really worry about offending them, but you’re likely also worried, maybe more so, that they would make you feel bad if they took offense to your offer.

Courage is about stretching out of your comfort zone and doing the right thing. You won’t always get congratulated for that, but, when it comes to helping people out, they are almost always appreciative of kind gestures.

This episode discusses what courage is and how Stoicism and the Enneagram can help us cultivate more of it. Part 2 will dive into specific practices you can do to boost your bravery and good human cred.

https://sarahmikutel.com/freedom/live-courage-stoicism

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Hello! I'm your host, Sarah Mikutel. But the real question is, who are you? Where are you now and where do you want to be? Can I help you get there?

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