Read Online Courage: Overcoming Fear and Igniting Self-Confidence by Debbie Ford - Free Book Online

gathered my things, I found the courage to run out the door. I went as fast as I could through the hotel, knowing that if he realized I was missing he would call downstairs to have me stopped. God knows what would happen. He’d already told me he could throw me out the window with a threatening seriousness I had rarely heard in my life. So the idea that he could accuse me of theft or some other crime wasn’t a far stretch of the imagination.
    Outside the hotel, with my head held high, I stepped into a cab and asked to be taken to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Because there were no cell phones in those days, I would have to wait until I got to the airport to make my plans. Luckily, I had one credit card and hoped it would be enough to get me home that day. I waited in the airport for almost twenty-four hours until I could take the most affordable flight home. When they finally found a ticket I could afford, I happily went to the back of the plane and awaited my long journey home, which would include four stops. I was humbled but felt stronger than ever before, because—maybe for the first time—I had my dignity and the confidence to stand up for my truth.
    This was the day I found a depth of courage I didn’t know I had. I tapped into a deep reservoir in order to make it through a terrible situation. Two years before, being the people pleaser that I was, I probably would have given the Count exactly what he wanted. That’s how desperate for love and approval I was. But my courage pulled me out of the hotel bed and sent me tiptoeing around in search of my passport. And even today, when I’m frightened and having a hard time finding my courage, I go back into this experience to remember and access a certain kind of power within me. I may not always be able to see it or feel it, but it’s always there.
    Divine confidence is a different kind of confidence: it can never be stripped away. It’s strange that we go endlessly searching for it—trying to find it through our accomplishments and capabilities—because it doesn’t come from being good at something or possessing vast amounts of information or having a big bank account. It can never be found “out there,” because it is within you—a part of your sacred DNA. So when you know yourself, when you know at the core of your being that you’re here for a greater purpose, divine confidence is present and palpable. And when your cord of connection with the infinite is acknowledged, honored, and nurtured, the fearlessness and faith-filled trust that make up divine confidence run coursing through your veins.
    Truth is the key to unlocking the door to divine confidence. This truth is not a concept that you can understand with your mind. It is not something that can be grasped when filtered through the human ego structure. No, it’s a truth that is more humble than that, a truth that can be felt only when you get out of your head and into your heart. When you’re blind to this truth, you’re left to the limited power of your human will, which—as we all can attest—will not come through for you when you most need it.
    This truth has been spoken about since the beginning of time. It has been the secret superpower for those who stand tall in the certainty and faith that they have a divine purpose on this planet. Most of our great leaders and sages have come to this truth, rising above the great cover-up of the human ego.
    So what is this truth? What will give us access to this profound and all-powerful force? Why are we here? The answer to this question may be the very cornerstone of this book and the pulsing heart of my work. We are here for one reason and one reason only: to get closer to the divine force that governs the universe, whether you call that force God, Spirit, Love, or Higher Power.
    All experiences, positive and negative, can help us connect with and remember who we are and why we have come to this beautiful and vulnerable planet. All of our challenges are