It takes courage to know when you ought to be afraid. James A. Michener
It is easy to recognize danger but well neigh impossible to segregate fear from foolhardiness. As you would be well aware attempting any exam without studying is a dangerous ploy and yet when we attempt an exam without studying in the fond hope of passing, we are not just foolhardy but worse still, we have lost the fear of failure in exams. Fear is an emotion we would prefer not to display in public for ironically we fear ridicule.
Look at a gambler on a losing streak. His belief is that his luck will turn sooner or later and so he keeps hiking the stakes without fear for he is blinded by the possibility of recouping his losses in the next round. It takes more than just raw courage to tell yourself that there is a real danger of ruin if we up the stakes meaninglessly. Running away from a challenge may make one look like a wimp; it is the sensibility of the person to swallow his pride then and live to fight another day. It takes enormous courage to acknowledge that one is not an equal to the challenge or the opponent. It hurts the ego, opens us to ridicule and contempt and we end up feeling like a loser for a long time. Yet it is the brave man who can use his judgment to step back if need be and spar only if he knows the odds on his winning are very high.
Fear sometimes comes in various hues. The nagging uncomfortable feeling, the hollowness in the pit of the stomach, the gut feeling that nudges your senses and the sheer scale of the task making you feel overwhelmed are all subtle shades of the same reality; we need to have the courage to accept- that we are afraid. When the danger is real like confronting a man with a loaded gun, prudence demands we make our best effort to escape rather than chance our lives in false bravado. Sometimes we get blinded by the sheer audacity of the opponent and we want to teach him a lesson; an exercise in outlandish stupidity. Most of us mistakenly believe that courage is all about not running away from a confrontation whereas the real meaning of courage is to acknowledge that we are unequal to the task in the current form. When we acknowledge this, we are being brave enough to admit temporary defeat but that is like losing just a battle and the war is a long way off. Suicide is perhaps the most cowardly act for it is a direct admission of lack of courage when we are afraid.
Remember: Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Edward Vernon Rickenbacker
Try these:
- Outline the 3 most courageous acts you ever did in your life. How many of these were influenced by the fear of public ridicule in case you ran away from the challenge. Outline the 2 biggest failures in your life. Who was primarily responsible for those failures? Were you forced to attempt something that you were convinced you would fail in?
- What are those tasks that you have been postponing or procrastinating over? Do you lack the courage to commit to those tasks? Are there tasks you are doing simply because you don’t know how to say No or are afraid to say NO?
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