Carnival of Courage (Issue #5)

Welcome to the Issue #5 of the Carnival of Courage: A Cavalcade of Superheroes!

Greeting Everyone! The Carnival is picking up steam with several excellent posts contributed this week. It continues to be a very interesting process reading through the submissions, each one coming at the topic of courage from a different angle.

And now, without further ado, please enjoy this week's Carnival!

Setting Direction for the New Year

Shamelle takes up Rajesh Setty’s challenge to come up with a Quought (Question that provokes thought). Says Rajesh, "I have always believed that it is not always the answers but sometimes asking one good question is what is required to make a difference in a person's life or business or both."  Answering the prompt “What is the ONE important question a person should ask himself or herself in 2007?” Shamelle comes up with a great answer in Year 2007: An Invitation To Enhance Your Life posted at Enhance Life.

Craig Harper seems to be channeling his inner Steve Pavlina here with a great meaty post with enough edge to keep you on your toes with The Science of Success posted at Renovate your life with Craig. Says Craig,"I have spoken with many people who have been on the personal development journey for years..... and they're still in the same place (physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, financially and professionally). They've read eight million books, been to thirteen thousand workshops, therapists and specialists, and they're still miserable, unfulfilled, stressed and directionless. Still complaining, rationalising, justifying, excusing, blaming, procrastinating... and waiting. If they put one tenth of what they've read or heard into practice... things would be drastically different but the truth is, they consistently do nothing."

If you had to identify one crucial key to your success, what would it be? Jane Chin states, "The crucial key to success is definitely NOT “out-of-the-box thinking,” a term that has the corporate nutritional

value as chocolate lava cake: looks good, tastes great, not much nutritional substance to write home about." Does success come only to those who have always had a "vision"  for themselves since childhood?  Read Jane's perspective at Your Crucial Key To Success posted at On Careers and Life.

Picking Up the Pieces

A beautiful post, heartbreaking and poignant, this post about the loss of a child never mentions courage,  embodies its central quality. and the photos are just captivating. Tim Abbott presents "Skating Away (on the Thin Ice of the New Day)" posted at Walking the Berkshires. Says Tim, "Courage is cyclical, and walks hand in hand with doubt."

As promised last time I contributed a submission of my own here, posting further on my experience with the Weiland family for you. I'll put the last installment up for you this week.

Personal Stories of Will and Self-Determination

An indepth and provokative article which took courage just to post, Brandon Peele explores the issue of sexuality, gender identification, bullying, repression and more at Sexuality and Identity posted at GT.

Can sheer strength of will get you through? Scott Lee makes a good case for it in My Personal Experience of Dealing With Opposing Forces posted at Dirty Mechanism.

Those Who Were There

A powerful post here on an American here. The Wooden Porch presents september 11th, 2001 posted at The Wooden Porch.This is a true account of what my brother-in-law did on 9-11 and what his family at home went through.

Powerful Women

I had been wondering if this was going to be a mostly male carnival as the last couple of editions I had few (and in one case no) submissions from women. Debra Moorhead's contribution adds some much needed balance here with quite an impressive list of women who have had a significant impact on the quality of our lives in One Woman Can Make a Difference posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Barbra Sundquist considers what it takes to get through difficult times in Joy Is Not the Same as Happiness posted at WelcomeJoy.com.

World News

Dan Harris presents Chinese Court Says "No" To Government - Applause Not Warranted posted at China Law Blog. Says Dan, "The judge who issued this opinion may have put his life at risk."

The Warrior in the Ring

A video submission here for the sports fans among you. burningchrome presents Foreman - Moorer: Round 10 in Cool Alert - Champion posted at SmartCoolRich - Consolidated Privileged Information.

A Man After My Own Heart

I'm a quarter inch from going into a major rant on this.  It makes me want to scream and writhe about when I see parents giving their kids pop.  (Neon colored yogurt, too.) Adults pounding all those crazy chemicals into their own bodies just gets me crazy, too.  I would like to make this required reading for everybody. Yeah, caffeine addiction sucks to get over. I know. Headaches that make you want to jump in front of a truck.  Do the courageous thing and be good to your body. It's the only one you have, it's best to love it. For more on the reasons you may want to kick the soda habit, Matthew Paulson presents Say No to Soda posted at Getting Green.

Parental Judgement Calls

Does it take courage to skip school, or does one possibly, just maybe, develop more self and independence in the process? As a parent, where do you draw the line in encouraging your child's independence? Linda Freedman steps right in the middle of the issue in Skipping School posted at Everyone needs therapy? Lessons from a family therapist.

Working Quietly Behind the Scenes

Sometimes, the most important heroes are the ones that work quietly and consistently to improve our planet, without any bravado or acclaim. Jennifer Miner presents St. John Ecotravel and Ecotourism: Luxury Vacation Islands Rely on Volunteers for Ecosystem Upkeep. posted at Luxury & Resort Travel articles.

Steve Rudolf presents WorkDish - Homeless Shelter posted at WorkDish. WorkDish is a user-submission job info site. It's kind of cool to click around in. Here's an inspiring piece sent in by the overseer of a medical center for homeless women.

Thanks again to all who submitted! 

Ready to join us?

Next carnival is due out on 1/23/07.  You are welcome to submit any courage related post you like, whether it's your own act of bravery, big or small or that of someone who has inspired you. If you want a topic to get you thinking, I'd love to hear about the first time you were conscious of calling on your courage.  What is the first memory you have of facing a fear that required something of you to overcome? Share your tales from the trenches as you wrestle with those things that are stretching and challenging you.

SUBMIT TO THIS CARNIVAL by January 21st.

Because I am so awesome: I know several of my readers do not have blogs but do have stories to share.  If you feel inspired to share, please e-mail me your spell-checked and well-written submission for me to consider posting on your behalf.  I want to give everyone a chance to participate but I'm a one-woman show here so pieces that require heavy editing will be returned to you for fixing.

Comments

[The Wooden Porch]

I look forward to sitting down and reading these! Thanks for doing such a beautiful job. :-)

[Laura Young]

My pleasure! And thank you for your wonderful submission.