courage

Cour-age [kur – ij]
-noun

1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

I have been thinking about courage. About what it is and about whether I can invite more of it into my life.

Courage tends to be defined as the ability to act without fear. But I don’t really understand that.

What happens if a whole lot of things scare you: breaking up with that person who you’ve been seeing for years but you know isn’t right; travelling to Africa by yourself; quitting your soul-destroying job; or saying something to the co-worker who looks you up and down every morning. What if they scare you and you do them anyway? Are you not courageous?

And what if you don’t do them but then one day you are standing at the bus stop and a big guy starts pushing his girlfriend around and you automatically intervene without any fear even though your safety is at risk. Do you suddenly become a courageous person then?

A definition of courage that I find more useful is one suggested by Stephanie Dowrick. In her book Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love, she discusses courage as a willingness to embrace the world, to ‘live wholeheartedly’.

For me, this is a courage that is far more accessible. It is about thinking as well as doing. Instead of requiring an absence of fear, it simply demands openness. It involves an inclination to experience the fullness of existence, from the brilliant to the heart-breaking, and then to reflect fully. It is about expanding consciousness; about engaging with the complexity of life.