What is Courage?

Courage is not the absence of fear – or pretending fear isn’t there. But the manifestation of courage is the opposite of fear – fear will keep you stuck, but courage will release you. But just what is courage and how do you get more?

I’ve been reading about some pretty courageous women who are doing some amazing things and there is NO WAY that they haven’t had an up close and personal relationship with fear along their path– so how have they done it? What makes them so significantly different from you and me?

I know they each have perseverance, a level of stubbornness, and an unwillingness to accept defeat (in their cases defeat could very easily mean death). It doesn’t mean that they have never wanted to give up or walk away – it just means that that isn’t an option for them.

But that’s after they have committed themselves to a dream….it’s the dreaming I think that makes the difference. We all embody a range of perseverance, stubbornness and unwillingness to accept defeat – but we don’t all step into our dreams with 100% commitment.

So can courage can be defined by the outrageousness of our dreams and going for it anyway. If we do that then, is courage only granted to the outrageous? Or is it more a matter of faith? Trusting that things will work out – no matter how far the deck is stacked against you….trusting that this outrageous dream of yours means something and that something is worth taking a risk for – trusting that you’ll always land on your feet – even if you have to dust yourself off a few times.

Consider also that what is courage to me is child’s play to someone else…as I read about the physical and mental fetes of other women who are putting their lives at risk, I begin to compare my own adventures – a dangerous practice I can tell you…I am not rowing the oceans or climbing Mt. Everest, but what I’m doing takes courage none-the-less….I’m more like getting into the water one toe at a time – whereas there are those that jump in and then figure out how to swim. I’m a baby stepper – they are leapers, but we all are letting our dreams guide and lead us on this journey of life…..