Statement of encouragement: Courage.

 Happy new year everybody! Aku odun aku iyedun o emi wa a se pupo laye o. Anikun owo anikun alaafia.

I’m not sure who said this quote, but it's good enough to be in our Statement of encouragement as we are still in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic battle.

Here it is: ‘Courage can be in the small choices that we make each day, in doing something despite being afraid of it.’ And I love this phrase that courage can be in the small choices that we make each day. Because so many times, we save courage for what we call the big things, and I would just have you to know that we don't get courage for the big things until we have applied courage to the small stuff. It's kind of like the corny joke that I grew up with; how do you eat an elephant? Well, one bite at a time! And the tendency is for us to try to muster up big courage for big things, when we should just take bite-sized pieces and one step at a time to build our courage.

I was recently with some of my friends. It was a short but wonderful book promo tour trip, and we had a great time. And I shared with them the story of David and Goliath in the valley of Elah. And of course, you all know the story of David and Goliath. He took on the big boy. But what gave David the courage to take on the big boy? Well, it's very simple. He said, ‘As I was out in the field watching the sheep, I killed a bear, I killed a lion. Now bring on the big boy.’ You see, David had to have courage for the bear, the lion, before he was able to have enough courage for the giant.

My favorite definition of courage is; Courage is the quality or attitude shown by someone who decides to do something difficult or dangerous, even though they may be afraid instead of withdrawing from it.

Again, "someone who decides", a decision is a choice.

So just take off the small stuff every day as we are starting the year 2021. Be courageous in the daily stuff leading to your big stuff, eat your elephant bite by bite and you'll someday have the courage to handle the big boy, your big goal, your big dream.

 We rejoice with you as always if you were born in January. Good wishes to you always as you advance in age and wisdom, and may your future be filled with happiness and joy. Happy birthday!

And if this message helps you share it with a friend  to encourage and lift someone else up.

Have a wonderful year everybody! Stay safe, stay strong, and stay healthy!

Eric O. Thompson.