Every week during our New Year Challenge, I pour time and heart into preparing our motivational video … This season, time and again, it’s as if a theme keeps choosing me – quietly appearing, perfectly timed – and from that spark, my blog is also born. It just happens.
This week, I chose “Courage”, and I think you may ask – how do I even talk about bravery after a week of war and bombs and lost lives and chaos? How do we speak about bold gym goals and personal mountains when somewhere in the world real mountains are shaking under missiles?
Cities we once thought untouchable have felt explosions. World leaders have been killed, schools have been hit, and airports have been closed, displacing thousands of travellers … and I am speaking of courage, here, down South, from my small corner of the world?
Yes, you bet I am, because beyond the raw courage of those on the front lines of the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, there is another kind of courage. In fact, there are many different contours of courage …
Only last month, the entire world was captivated by the courage of Austin Appelbee, a 13-year-old boy from Australia, who bravely swam four hours through dangerous waters to get help after his family’s inflatable paddleboards were swept out to sea by strong winds …
People who know me well, might say: “Mirna, you’re the last person who should write about courage.” I know. They might be right! Last Tuesday evening, I hid under my duvet because of a low-flying bat. Yes. A bat. If I were Racheltjie de Beer, I’m not convinced that I would have taken off all my clothes to save my little brother, or sister (sorry, Adéle) from the snow. I barely take off my jacket during summer! And doing both a Warrior Race and a Muddy Princess in one year? Forget it! I barely have the guts to stomach the sludge of the Muddy Princess race once. Let alone twice.
In researching this blog, I came across a well-known quote by the American author, Mary Anne Radmacher: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the silent voice at the end of the day that says, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.”
Those words made me rethink my entire understanding of courage. Courage is not always loud, like singing in public; or headline-grabbing, like when Princess Diana shook hands with AIDS patients, years ago, when most people wouldn’t. There’s also a quiet, everyday kind of courage, like when you say, “I’ll try, even if I’m scared.”
I remember my high-school History teacher once shared a story about Dwight Eisenhower. Before D-Day, he had to decide whether to send thousands of soldiers across the English Channel into Nazi-occupied France.
The night before the invasion, he was so unsure of the outcome that he wrote a note taking full responsibility if the mission failed. He later admitted he felt the enormous fear and pressure of that decision – yet he gave the order anyway.
And this is something I deeply relate to.
I have never stood on a battlefield, never heard the thunder of bombs or the echo of gunfire. The courage of soldiers is something I can only admire from a distance.
But I have gone to war. Not on a battlefield – but in the space between doubt and decision. In the quiet battleground of my own mind. Like many people, I’ve fought my share of demons: fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of taking a step when the ground ahead wasn’t clearly visible.
We all have.
One of those battles came in 2013 when I considered introducing Rebounding® into our studio classes. At the time it felt like a huge risk. Would people like it? Would it work?
The doubts were loud. The fear was real. But courage rarely arrives with trumpets and fireworks. Sometimes it is simply the small decision that says: “Let’s try.”
So, we did. We brought the trampolines into the studio … and we jumped! Boy, have we jumped! What started as a step into the unknown turned into something extraordinary. Our community embraced it. It became part of who we are, and we have never looked back.
Now, more than a decade later, another moment like that is standing on the horizon.
Keith and Justine – the incredible people behind ReboundSA, to whom we have been loyal since 2013 – have opened the door to a possibility that still feels almost surreal: the opportunity for us to take over the reins of ReboundSA. This feels so right, because Rebounding® has been part of our DNA for more than a decade.
It is not final yet. There are still steps ahead. And yes … there is fear again. Because opportunities and responsibilities of this magnitude rarely come without uncertainty. But perhaps this too is simply another contour of courage; perhaps this is my 4km swim.
Sometimes the very thing that scares you the most … is the doorway to the biggest opportunity of your life. Just like those first trampolines we rolled into the studio in 2013.
The root of the word “courage” is “cor”, which is the Latin word for heart. So maybe courage isn’t about eliminating fear. Courage is simply saying: “I’m willing to honour the calling of my heart, even when, and especially when, it feels scary.”
This week reminded us how fragile life can be. And that makes what we are building here even more important. In a world that feels fearful, let’s choose courage. Not loud courage. Not headline courage. But faithful, consistent, everyday courage.
Austin Appelbee didn’t swim because he felt brave. He swam because someone had to. Courage isn’t something you “have” or even what you “are”. It’s what you choose to practise. And it has many contours. Courage isn’t always about dramatic, freezing-to-death heroics, or mud runs. Sometimes it’s only doing the next challenging thing – even when you’re doubtful, afraid, or tired.
Staying when it would be easier to quit. Speaking truth when your voice shakes. Believing that your best years are not behind you. Showing up when your heart feels heavy. Leading when you feel afraid.
Don’t just listen to your heart …honour it by being courageous. Whatever your 4km looks like – swim it.
Because in the end, courage isn’t about facing our fears, it’s about facing ourselves.
Yours in fitness
Mirna
082 779 0507