Courage: Conquering Fear
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
— Nelson Mandela
Mind Empowered, our organization marks each month, with an important trait. Our quotes, posts, poems and blogs for that month, mostly align with this particular virtue. For the month of July, the chosen trait was courage. Half a year, and six traits later, I’ve dug into details for all these qualities, and written about them. “Courage”, however, has made the task harder. When one speaks for a value, it is important to live by it, as much as possible. Like anyone else, I’ve had plenty of moments where it required a great deal of courage to do the smallest things. It would be a lie if I do not admit that I’ve not been able to always live by this. Personally, I have a massive amount of admiration for those who are brave enough to keep going ahead despite their fear, and I keep striving to learn from them.
The idea that first pops up into our minds, every time we think of someone courageous, is the warrior who goes into battle, the image of anything mighty that rises to attack or defend something else from the enemy, and the list goes on. While all of this requires courage, it can also be as simple as your little brother who stood up to you, when you made up your mind to do something you shouldn’t have. Fear is a very natural human emotion. In most situations, it would be meaningless to feel unafraid. Often we’re in fear when we risk losing something, and all the best things in life come at a cost. A courageous person is as afraid as anyone else, but still ventures ahead, despite the fear. And if all goes well, fortune definitely does favor the brave! But even if it doesn’t, the spirit they possess, to go ahead despite being uncertain of the outcome, is what counts.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
— T. S. Eliot
Life somehow seems to be good at throwing situations at us where it is highly tempting to take a different course of action than the ones we stand for, with our beliefs. It is our levels of integrity that make a decision here, and even to live by our words, requires courage. To change a chosen career path, to take that life changing decision, to speak out against being violated, to acknowledge our mistakes and rectify them, all require putting yourself out there, equating to the need for courage.
The first steps to courage is grabbing ahold of the reins of your life, and trying your best to steer it in the direction you want it to go. With different people facing different challenges, no one walks the same journey. That one person who recently underwent a traumatic experience, and struggles to get up from bed everyday, but still strives to live a normal life fighting an intangible force is as courageous as the bravest warriors. After all, we all have our own battles.
So, muster all your courage, calculate the risks, and take that difficult step! Let’s instill the right virtues in us!
