We think of courage at times as this thing that young boys have as they try to skate board of the roof into the pool. They might make it or not but what courage they have. Rubbish. Let’s look at what courage is really and how it plays out in our lives. Yes, I said our. You do not need to be on the front lines of combat or in the X-games to have or show courage.

Understanding what is consistent with a man of courage is of utmost importance. Are you ready for this – FEAR. Without fear you are neither brave nor courageous. You are foolish. Fear plays a healthy part in our lives. It can be a deterrent to keep us from making very large mistakes, but many times the fear that paralyzes us is not that fear. It is a fear that can be beaten, overcome. We just have to know how. That is where the courage comes in.

While we all agree that men of courage are hard to come by now one wants to be labeled the opposite. “The absence of Courage is a fault that few are willing to confess.” We all understand that we want courage but how do we grasp it, how does it become part of us? To do so we must understand its relation to the one thing that is consistent in all men and is always present with the one those full of courage.

“Courage is not in the absence of fear but in the conquest of it.”

Understand this – “The brave man is intelligent, he faces danger because he understands it and is prepared to meet it.” You see courage is not some blind foolishness, it is the tried and trained preparation that accompanies the one who has an intelligent grasp on the dangers that could befall him. This then leads way to conquer that fear with courage through the preparation.

We can not fall into this mess of life where we think and believe that having courage is doing something that others are too scared to do. To have true courage means that you have studied, prepared and then with complete understand of not only the risks but also the rewards. Have weighed the fear and found it wanting on a scale against something of higher value, whether that value be moral, monetary or of the feminine persuasion. 🙂

So lets be honest with the world for  a second. Have you ever truly studied a risk, weighed it and found it wanting? Have you understood the danger and in its face stood strong, moved forward to see it conquered and then held in your hand that glorious destiny that allows you to be mentioned among the few. Among those that we look up at in legend an myth who have such courage.

Are you brave? Are you courageous? Are you truly heroic?

Start small. in what ways can you make a small step to conquer fear in your life today?

(All Quotes from Sermons to Young Men by Henery Van Dyke)