Courage Is

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I know these people.

And every day takes some courage from some people.  Maybe moments.  Maybe hours.  Maybe forever.

I wouldn’t for a minute underestimate the courage it takes to get through life.

These people, I admire.

Courage is the young father and husband who is terrified he can’t provide for his little family.   Who gets up and goes to work each day.  And fears the powers above him that could take away the small security of having this job.  This job that is not all he can do.  But all he can get right now.  He knows he can do more.  And plans on it.

There’s courage in the dark of night for the aging widow who never spent a night alone in eighty years of life.  And now she sits every night without the comfort and security of the familiar face.  The familiar face that shared joys and sorrows.  Her sharing has ended.     Her existence is watched over by the shadows of her past.  But that doesn’t help her through the lonely nights.

There is courage in the hearts of two people who look across one another at the breakfast table and realize they don’t know one another.  They summon the courage of both of their hearts to look towards the future and determine if this path will be continued together.  Do they find their love in a different form.  Or do they say goodbye and face life alone.  With the loss of something weighing more than the carrying of something.

Courage is facing the day with bravado when your heart is crying.  When your fear is insurmountable.  Your energy is empty and you look in the mirror and see no value.  But you get up and go to work.  You smile when smiled at.  You listen when talked to.  You check off what you must do when there is nothing that you want to do.  There’s courage in having no desire to exist but you exist, because someone depends on you to get through the day.

Courage is having a passion and believing in your passion-when no one else understands it.  Courage is not having anyone believe in you and your passion.   But believing in yourself.

Courage is the daily act of bravery that no one else recognizes.   And courage is not needing that recognition.   Courage is acting in the face of inner fear.  When others don’t know the fears.  Or care.

Courage does not have to be a large act.  Courage just is.  Courage is an act of existence.

 

(c)

19 thoughts on “Courage Is”

  3. Your Wit & Wisdom is limitless! In recent years I never hear the word “courage” that I do not think of a wee story about the subject. A quote that is widely circulated and attributed to Winston Churchill : “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Back in 2014 a young quarterback for the Washington Redskins, Robert Griffin lll, had been sidelined with an injury. During an interview prior to returning to the game Griffin said that during the recovery time he had come upon something said by Winston Churchill that helped and, with some of his own variation, repeated the above quote. The amusing part of the story, at least to me, is that Churchill never said those words and Griffin unknowingly added to the misinformation. In some places the quote is now attributed to Robert Griffin lll. The true origin of the quote may never be discovered, but known or unknown…the words are profound! Thank-you for this excellent post and also for enduring my propensity for loquacity!

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  8. This was really meaningful to me, Colleen. I recently read a quote that addressed fear, and stated we cannot always eliminate fear, but we can reach for more courage. I think that’s true. And the stories you share here support that.

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