A Misconception About Courage

Courage is a word I've thought a lot about in my life. It's a concept I've placed such merit in, through witnessing it in others, I got it permanently placed on my body. For me, it serves as a reminder, to have courage, to seek it with others and to demonstrate courage when others cannot.

Here's the thing about life; while it's wonderful and amazing, it's equally terrifying and fear-provoking. Fear surrounds us all day, every day in small things and large. Fear showed up in our childhood as the thing that goes bump in the night. It presents itself as far scarier demons in adulthood; feelings of unworthiness, unfulfilled potential, self-doubt, rejection, failure, loss, pain, the list goes on.

I never understood why the dictionary lists fearlessness as a synonym to courage. If you think about it, they aren't the same at all. Fearlessness implies that nothing scares you. That you possess no fear. Therefore, doing what it is hard or scary, isn't a challenge, and there's no merit in it. 

But courage, courage implies that you are scared. You have a fear, and do not merely overcome it, but rather push through it. Courage is about dealing with your fear, not erasing it.

Courage is being afraid of something and doing it anyway. It's fighting with everything you have in you to continue on this path we call life in the hopes that what goes bump in the night doesn't catch up to you. It's being terrified of heights, and taking a leap anyway, not knowing where you'll land, but hoping at some point your feet will hit the ground.

There are many movies that make note of this rule, but if you ever have any semblance of fear of doing something, count to five. Let yourself be terrified for five seconds. Then, do it.

That's courage. It’s not being fearless. It's being courageous in facing your fears.

So, go out into the world. Discover your fears. And then meet them head on with courage.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5… GO.