10 Seconds to Courage: Trauma to Purpose

"10 Seconds to Courage" is a true story of an exceptionally strong woman who cultivated the power of courage in her life and bought meaning and purpose to her trauma to change her life. 

The importance of courage cannot be undermined in our lives - it can transform us and change our lives for the better. "10 Seconds to Courage" is a story of an exceptional woman who cultivated the power of courage in her life and brought meaning and purpose to her trauma. 

Courage happens when we realize that we are stuck in life; if you notice closely, you will realize courage always stems from a need to change something or some situation - for example, it could be that we are stuck in our trauma, our pain, our dead end career that doesn't bring us any joy, our useless relationships, our toxic patterns, or that dead marriage that you should have never got into to begin with and now you are stuck and dying inside slowly, slowly and not having the courage to take the next step.

Sometimes we need courage in small doses (like just trying something fun and new for the first time, e.g. bungee jumping) and sometimes we need courage in leaps and bounds (like when fighting serious sickness, accident, trauma, pain, loss of a loved one, etc.). 

The bridge between being stuck and going towards courage is the importance of releasing things that no longer serve you and dreaming a new dream - that is, cultivating new habits and changes to get you to where you want to be. 'Releasing' requires letting go of all toxic things, people, events, pain, trauma, patterns, negativity, items, clothes, belongings, etc. that no longer serve us and bring negative emotions to us and then shifting to creating your new reality. Getting into a 'flow state' and then working towards creating a new reality to give more meaning and purpose to your life will require courage - meaning manifesting things you want in your life will require some courage.

It is usually not the lack of talent, intelligence, hard work or planning that stops people from building new, bolder, better dreams - it is usually the lack of courage that gets them...the inner critic that demotivates us and before we know it, it has got the best of us and we are struggling to believe in ourselves and make positive changes that are needed.

The story that I am about to tell you will hopefully inspire you and remind you that you too, can bring some courage into your life and give meaning and purpose to your trauma. 

Here's another mini narrative from my life - when I was in college. This story is the story of courage - no doubt about it.

The Story - 

At my university (U of Houston), to keep students safe, we had police service available for pick-up and drop-offs. So if it was late at night and we had to go to our dorms or university apartments, then we could request the service by a simple phone call and tell them what building to pick us up from and where we needed to be dropped off...

It was late and at the time, I lived on campus - in the prestigious university apartments along with few other roommates and many, many friends - pretty much the whole complex knew each other..:)

I was leaving the computer lab and it must be close to midnight so I called the service and asked to be picked up to go to the apartments.

(Life surprises me - it is very odd to me how life unfolds at each and every moment...and you have no idea what is about to come in the next moment and how it will impact you. Everything is so divinely guided that we have NO idea how intricately our lives are planned and held at the highest significance by the Divine orchestra or...you can call it the Universal symphony).

After a few minutes, the police car came and as I sat down in the back, I said, 'Hi' and noticed it was a female cop - she was fairly young...must be in her early 30s at the most and was a pretty looking Caucasian woman.

I didn't know as I sat down in that car that it was going to be one of the most memorable and inspiring moments of my life - the entire exchange took place within 10 mins.

She said 'hi' to me and then -

I - "Thanks for doing this...it gets so late and it is not safe for us to walk alone so far at this time...so thanks for doing this.."

She - "No problem! You are so welcome..:) We patrol the area anyways so it is no problem for us to pick someone up and drop them somewhere.."

I - "Do a lot of students use this service...I mean especially after the shuttle service shuts down (at 10 pm)?."

She - "Well yes.....lot of students call us.., sometimes we have some serious cases but other than that, it is just pick-up and drop-off.."

I - "Do you like doing it? It must get pretty boring doing the same rounds all night..?"

She - "No....I like it actually...I mean it's cool..."

I already knew she was open with me (through her energy I could tell and that she liked talking to me) so I went straight to the point - the way I communicate with people is usually very different then what most people communicate like..

....so here I go...I felt like asking her THE question as if it was waiting to be asked and as if, she was waiting to answer it - as if, the answer was on her lips and just wanting the words to come out...

I - "Why do you do it?"

(Her answer..it came out instantly. There was NO gap in time, space and words - like I said, the words were just waiting to come out...)

She - "I was sexually molested many times...I was sexually abused many times throughout my childhood and teenage years and so then I said I am going to become a cop and safeguard others and never let this happen to others...I said, 'no, not on my watch' and I decided to become a cop...so this is why I do it..."

By then, we were almost at my apartment so I told her, "I am sorry to hear that and that you are so strong for being a survivor and for doing this to help others.."

As the car stopped and as I opened the door to get out, she looked back at me and we talked for a few more minutes - she had very closed, reserved energy and was clearly an introvert. It didn't seem like she was the type going to parties and drinks, etc. - nope. She had very grounded energy and was very quiet overall - maybe not with me or not at that moment but overall...

I think I met her once or twice more on campus and we waved at each other and talked for a few minutes each time when she would be at our complex and other than that, it was usually different cops who would help us students at night but her story always stayed with me.

End Note - 

We think we need to watch movies to find our 'heroes or heroines' but the truth is they are often right next to us - only if we dare to ask them the right questions and give them a chance to speak from their Heart space, then yes, sure we can 'meet' them and meet them easily too and let their stories inspire us in return.

In her trauma, she found her calling (to 'safeguard' others by becoming a cop) - because as a little girl, she could not protect herself from the horrible, painful sexual abuse so that very same little girl is now protecting others - by her courage, she turned her trauma into helping others.

I do not know if she was open like this with others as well and was telling her story to everyone who asked or if she only opened up with me but what I want to say is that no matter how painful, how dark, how unconventional your past is - how deep and hurtful your trauma is, you owe it to yourself to find someone who you can share it with - just ONE RIGHT person is enough.

When we can share our true 'story' with someone, we heal - we feel lighter, we feel accepted and loved, and most of all, we realize we were holding this massive 'secret' baggage all alone when there was no need to be this strong...we can let our guard down and allow ourselves to be seen for exactly who we are - sometimes vulnerable, sometimes weak and sometimes a warrior - all at once.

How will you share your story with the world and how will you use it to help and inspire others? How will you create a new story and let-go of the previous one that might have been very painful?

When you listen to people's stories of their trauma, you start to see their strength and what their life must have looked like in the past to make them who they are today - you become more aware as a human being and you open doors to healing and compassion, not just towards them but towards yourself too.

Questions to Ponder Upon -

1. What area of your life could use more courage? Is it love, money, marriage, healing your relationships, health, dreams, etc.?

2. Where are you feeling stuck? What is it that you need to do but you are lacking courage (feeling scared and stuck)? 

3. Who can you share your story with? Who is that ONE person who you can open your Heart to and share your deepest, darkest secrets with full trust and safety? Who can give you that safe space in your life that you so deeply crave for? How will you use the power of courage to heal your trauma and give meaning to it so that it can become your strength and align you more with your true purpose in life?

4. Who can you give that safe space of trust and integrity so that they can be themselves and share their story with you? Who can you reach out to today and let them know that you care and that you are there for them if they need to talk..?

5. How will you cultivate courage in your life now? What dreams hold space in your heart and how will you bring them to fruition - how will you bring courage into your life so that you can transform your dreams into reality?

Though she may never know, she continues to stay as one of my greatest inspirations and she is a reminder of what true strength looks like - what a warrior looks like...no longer a victim but definitely a survivor.

At that time when I was so young in college and also struggling a lot in my life due to many hardships, she was a great reminder that perhaps I too, will one day overcome many struggles in life just like her and will find meaning and purpose to all my suffering.

She was a Light that I needed at that time in my life and through her purpose (being a cop), our paths crossed in a truly meaningful exchange and though I will never know why she opened up so quickly and easily with me, I am eternally grateful to her for sharing her Truth with me. 

I love this photo - every time I look at this photo, I remember her; like a phoenix rising from her ashes because that's what she was...

-Somyata

Photo Credit - HERE

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