How 7 minutes of uncensored truth can give you the courage to make a decision.
Everything is waiting for you.
In August of 2018, a group of global leaders from all walks of life trekked through the ancient, limestone landscape on Ireland’s misty and rugged western coast.
There were 28 of us beckoned to this sacred place in The Burren seeking inspiration and growth.
The Challenge at the Chapel
The renowned poet, David Whyte, led us to one of his most-revered places—a small clearing beneath a cliff where the ruins of an ancient chapel remained, and where a cave in the hillside (known as Coleman’s bed) was once home to the Irish saint Coleman. David sat upon the remains of one of the chapel walls and explained the significance and holiness of the site.
He recited his poem, “Coleman’s Bed,” and paused, letting the last lines linger in the air. David then spoke of courage and challenged us to surface the decisions we knew we needed to make.
I could feel something colliding inside my chest, ricocheting off my ribs. I stared down at the journal in my lap and tried to focus, breathe. I felt exposed and panicked. Of course, I knew the courageous decision I needed to make.
We all do.
We can be masters at ignoring what we most want, categorizing our deepest desires as unworthy, especially when stacked against the wall of what must change for those dreams to become realized.
Knowing that once we dare to speak our truth, a series of dominoes, the ones we lined up with precision in defiance of our soul, will start to fall. Igniting what we fear will be a daisy chain of heartbreak, loss, and isolation.
So, we’ll exercise our right to remain silent and choose to walk through our days as if someone else has written the script. Chosen the players. Selected the stage and placed the decor on the set.
And in that stifling fog, we distract ourselves with activity, busyness, and anything else that can distance us from what we feel.
I looked up and met David’s eyes. As much as my brain wanted to continue the farce of hiding out, it relented to the reality that the jig was up. I faced the quiet truth I could no longer ignore and made a simple plan to take the first step.
There, in the verdant, damp beauty of County Clare, my soul had emerged as the victor.
Finding Courage in Truth
What is the courageous decision you know you need to make?
What is the bold truth your heart already knows you must choose? The one that your future self will bless you for, whispering thanks across the years?
Take a moment right now and write like the wind for at least seven minutes, not stopping or censoring yourself. Let it all land onto the page.
And when the seven minutes are up, don’t rush away. Sit with what has surfaced. There, among the tangled threads and half-formed thoughts, you may find the quiet shape of the decision waiting to be made—the one that has been calling to you beneath the noise.
This is how courage often arrives: not with fanfare, but through stillness and honesty, through words scrawled in haste that somehow reveal the truth.
Trust Yourself and Make a Decision
Trust what you’ve written. Trust that your deeper knowing already holds the map. The path opens like a wildflower to sunlight—with one breath (no matter how unsteady), one rooted word, one small step forward.
Turn and face the waiting wind. Decide. Make a move.
