About Courage (About You)

Courage: Openness to Life in the Moment

INTRODUCTION

Does it make sense for you to think of yourself as being an expression of courage? Well, despite the many words that have been shared about this word, and the many actions taken in its name, I contend that courage is an ‘in the moment’ feeling…

About Your Courage (About Your Life)

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
– Anaïs Nin

Some More Words On The ‘Bravery’ Word

Like love (loss and being yourself…), a lot has been written about courage.

There are many fine words, courage quotations galore and ‘heroic actions’ from the past that speak to this C-word.

Yet courage is still much mis-understood. Because words don’t really cut it. And neither do actions.

More Than Words, Though, More Than Actions

Can you imagine seriously trying to describe love via words or actions, for example.

Yes, Rumi did a great job when it comes to talking about love, but only because he used his words to point to the invisible, the formless.

And the same goes for ‘loss’ – the grief of losing a loved one, for example, no-one can describe this via words and actions; it is a feeling, unique to each person.

As for ‘being yourself’, this is the wordless experience of looking at an ever-changing picture that seemingly reflects your values and fears and hopes, the picture is never finished.

(By the way courage may well be experienced in love, loss and in being yourself.)

Courage Is A Feeling

So, then, courage is NOT merely these fine words…

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
– Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
– Winston Churchil

The greatest test of courage on the earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.
– R. G. Ingersoll

Much better words might be these, and where they point to…

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
– Raymond Lindquist

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
– Anais Nin

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
– Winston Churchill

Then there are the wise words that are both right and wrong, helpful and not so…

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
– Maya Angelou

Understanding ‘Courage’, Then

Courage is…

• more a feeling, than a word or an action

• who you are

• an ebb and a flow

Yes quite simply the greatest courage in the world is simply being yourself – ALL of yourself, the feelings you enjoy, the feelings you’d rather forget, and especially the feelings that just don’t make sense: “Please make it go away!”.

This word is much misused. (Much like the word God, strangely.)

This word seemingly urges us on “into the fire” or “against the enemy”, when really all it’s whispering – in my opinion, anyway – is “just be yourself”.

Because… being yourself, all of you – the loss, the love, the not knowing what’s coming next – because all of that really is okay.

Do you see that?

3 Minute Heroes Video

Here’s what came to me as I shared my thoughts on the courage-word during a 3 Minute Heroes video I recorded in December, 2014: