Find Your Courage

Find Your Courage by Margie Warrell

A book for anyone standing at the beginning of their second life

Some books you read for information. Others seem to find you at exactly the right moment.

Find Your Courage: 12 Acts for Becoming Fearless at Work and in Life by Margie Warrell is one of those books.

What I love most about this book is that Warrell doesn’t suggest that courage means being fearless. Instead, she presents courage as something we practise – a choice to move forward even when we don’t know exactly what lies ahead.

That message sits very close to the heart of Second Life Counselling.

Life doesn’t always follow the plan we imagined. Sometimes circumstances change us. Sometimes the identity we have built for ourselves no longer fits. Sometimes we reach a crossroads and realise that the life we have been living isn’t necessarily the life we want to continue living.

And sometimes, the biggest act of courage is allowing ourselves to imagine that something different might be possible.

Warrell encourages readers to question the stories they have been telling themselves, take responsibility for the direction of their lives, dream bigger and step beyond the safety of what is familiar. Her 12 acts include the courage to challenge your stories, the courage to dream bigger, the courage to be yourself, the courage to take action, the courage to persevere and the courage to let go.

One of the ideas that particularly resonated with me is Warrell’s belief that:

“Courage is action in the presence of fear and self doubt.”

That is such an important distinction.

We don’t have to wait until we’re completely confident. We don’t have to have everything figured out. We don’t have to stop being afraid before we begin.

We can simply take the next step.

Another powerful theme is the idea of challenging the stories we have created about ourselves and what is possible. Warrell writes:

“Courage is challenging your stories about what’s possible.”

For me, this is where the book connects so strongly with counselling.

So many of us carry stories about who we are, what we’re capable of, what we should be doing and what our future is supposed to look like. Some of those stories were written by us. Others were written by family, society, workplaces, relationships or circumstances.

But a story can be rewritten.

Your past can be part of your story without having to determine the ending.

That is one of the ideas behind Second Life Counselling: creating a space where women can pause, reflect, process what they have been through and begin to explore what comes next.

A second life doesn’t necessarily mean starting over completely.

Sometimes it means taking everything you’ve learned, everything you’ve survived, everything you value and everything you now understand about yourself – and using it to create a life that feels more authentically yours.

Warrell’s message is ultimately one of agency. She describes her book as a guide for getting your life back on track when you’ve landed somewhere you never consciously chose.

And perhaps that’s why Find Your Courage feels particularly relevant to Second Life.

Because there are moments in life when the path ahead is uncertain, but the possibility of something new is exciting.

When we stop asking “What if I fail?” and begin asking “What if I don’t try?”, something changes.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A thoughtful, practical and inspiring book for anyone standing at a crossroads, questioning old stories, navigating change or simply feeling that there is more life waiting to be lived.

If you’re beginning your own second life, this is one worth putting on your reading list.

Because sometimes the next chapter doesn’t begin when everything is certain.

Sometimes it begins when you find the courage to turn the page.

Love, Michelle