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Need Courage to Confront the New Year? --> top of page HOME WORKSHOPS Death: A Rite of Passage Conscious Transitions Walking the Labyrinth of Grief Ayni Energy Processes PROJECTS The No Regrets Project Conscious Caregiving FREE GIFTS Well of Grief Ritual Living With Loss eBook No Regrets Bundle Conscious Caregiving Series Music for Times of Transition BLOG ABOUT Board of Directors Contact Us More Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Kitty Edwards Dec 28, 2026 3 min read Need Courage to Confront the New Year? “ Courage doesn't

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always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow .” – Mary Anne Redmacher Are you feeling fearful? Are your surroundings unfamiliar? Do you need more courage to confront the new year? During my lifetime I have crossed many thresholds, leaving an old life behind while facing a new adventure. I have often approached these thresholds with joy as I took on the responsibilities of becoming an adult, a wife, a guardian, or stepped into a leadership role. At

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these times I have entered the new territories of life and accepted the challenges and the unknown outcomes. At other times I have been pushed across a threshold by circumstances. My life was forever changed without my permission. For me, these uninvited passages have included the loss of a beloved, the recognition of a difficult diagnosis and the act of being discredited by the actions of others. At each of these times, my fears grew exponentially as my courage to move forward in life evaporated. I wondered if I would

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ever be myself again. When my fears were activated, my response was to cover myself in a blanket of anger, self-doubt and confusion. This response seemed to be a reasonable reaction to being overwhelmed by fear. But, it didn’t help me adjust to the new terrain of my life. In this new land of uncertainty, I imagined that land mines were buried everywhere. There was no clear path to follow. Each step required a decision. Each decision required courage. The relationship between fear and courage has always intrigued me. Finding

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courage would not be necessary if I had no fears. Psychologists say that my fears are generated by my past experience of loss, pain, or trauma. However, sorting out the past from the present was too arduous a task for me. Over the years, after stepping or falling across many thresholds, I have developed a practice of courage. This practice requires that I first honor, in ceremony, each of my fears. This can take some time because I can always discover many layers to my fears. For ceremony, I create