By Paulo Coelho
Anthony Williams says that the world seems threatening to cowards. They seek the false security of a life void of great challenges, and arm themselves heavily in order to defend that which they think they possess. Cowards are victims of their own egos, and in the end erect the bars of their own prisons.
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Not sure how or why…. But right now i am too fearful to write…
Dear Paulo
I don´t know in which context Anthony Robbins said so. As far as I know he is a gifted coach. These words seem to me quite judgemental and I don´t think anyone grows, heals or learns anything by being judged.
I see this world as a school. We come here with varying experience and consciousness to learn, grow, love, unfold. I can think quite easily of times in my life when I was a big coward myself. I´m really sorry I was and I truly regret those situations. And to be able to dare something else next time life presents me with a situation of the same kind when I was a coward before, I need not to judge my self as a coward. But to take a strate look at it and say: Ok, what scared the hell out of me last time? How can I meet this now? What do I need? Hopefully then, I can learn to dare some more and not be corwardy next time. As I see it, courage grows inside by being used..
That’s true. At the end the coward is lost in his labyrinth of fears. Because he spent his life, keeping material things closer to him, not sharing.
Because he fears to go forward, thinking he could lose his life, he would lose still and all at the end. Because he only listens to himself: so to ego, ignorant of god’s attribute he has in himself. Blind to it, though hell becomes really conspicious.
Dear Sibila,
I thought the same as you, as to the judgemental feeling. The limit isvery thin between judgment and recognition.
If we take the idea, that people judges what they are, so maybe Mr Williams consider himself as a coward. I don’t know. But Lao tzu wrote:
“He who speaks don’t know
He who knows don’t speak”.
So it is by writing that we could then be silent upon a subject. Getting detached to it.
We are all coward in a way, but I’m probably more than others.
I put it on my knees now, and look at it deeply into its eyes.
Am I going to lather my spirit, because of inaction? I know something’s wrong.
But in an other hand, I don’t consider myself as a coward. I maybe have to live that way. I have to meditate upon myself, not to reproduce the same errors. But something is missing yet. I’m maybe too exclusive.
Love.
I think it takes bravery to admit your fears. Maybe recognizing how cowardly we can be lets us know how brave we are.
I keep thinking about this question.
For me it´s very important to learn to be able to say the truth without being blaming or judgemental - which is an art. It´s so very easy to be so sure of one´s point of view as the truth that it´s extremely easy to criticise or pass judgements.
But however right or valid a point of view is, if it´s put forward with self-righteousness that puts others down, then it becomes criticism and judgement.
What happens then is that however bright or right the point of view is, it´s narrowed by the criticism or judgement. It becomes blind to the full picture. The full picture also includes the motivations behind whatever is going on.
Judgement and criticism stop the flow of energy, Maybe the point of view is right or valid - but if it stops the flow of energy, puts someone down and creates fear - than I think it´s a good idea to look at my own motives if I´m the one judging or criticising…
I´ve judged and critized a ton myself, I´ve grown up in a deeply criticising and judgemental home and have had much to learn thru it.
The truth can be very painfull to face - but it can set us free.
In order to be able to do that, it has in my eyes to be put forward without judgement or criticism. Otherwise it is just another powergame from the fearfull part of us.
Time to let go so that i am not going to be a coward.
Love
All ways
Hildegarde
dear Sibila,
I agree with you. Judgment is fighting the light, because energy that follows from is a down one. So heart does not hear the message, but closes itself.
Nobody’s perfect, but anyway, I can’t say that “the world seems threatening to cowards”, and only to them.
The judgment is categorical: It let no one window opened, when it can’t reach nor overcome Justice.
Love.
dear Sibila I want to thank you for your words.
Love
All Ways
Hildegarde
“The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.”
Umberto Eco
This quote is so moving for me.
In life doesn’t matter who you are a hero or a coward, what matters are your intentions, your believes, your values.
There are moments in life when it is better to be a coward by choice, and moments when you should be a brave man. Doing things based on cruel bravery only leads to pain and tragedy.
Only when you look into your own heart, when you have God inside, only then you should make a move. We can only pray that God will give us time and clear mind to not confuse right with wrong.
love
Agnieszka
Beautiful Agnieszka - it reminds of a movie that was called I think accidental hero -Dustin Hoffman was in it .
I agree though -at times when we have been cowardly -it serves as learning process to help us to change in the next moment we feel this -Let each new experience teach us that the power and growth lies with in us .Blessings Tania
u r not a coward honey, u r a kid fighting demonds. it will make u a brave and strong man, don’t worry.
hugs from the sun.
ps. i have been there before.
Thank you Tania,
love
Agnieszka
It is not that we are afraid that makes us cowards it is what we do with the fear when we have it. Alberto Villoldo tells us that the ego fears only one thing - anihilation, and because of that fear we create stories about ourselves and collect props to back them up. That way we mask the fear of anihilation. But the stories we tell when we take this route are stuck in the dynamic of victim/perpetrator/rescuer. We can play all or any of these roles while we are in this dynamic.
It is not the sign of a coward to feel fear unless we keep telling the same stories over and over again with it, like stuck records. Instead we can use the fear to find another way, face up to anihilation and realise that we are far more than our egos and that, whilst the ego personality may die, we are infinite beings and death is merely another form of birth. We may use our fear to imprison ourselves but we all hold the key to set ourselves free.
Love and blessings
Rebecca