This is one of my most powerful moments, yet a short, concise post sharing the Gratitude we feel today.
There is such a slight sounding difference but enormous real distinction between these two definitions of Courage:
- Wikipedia says Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation
- Reference.com states Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear
I could not disagree more with the second definition. I had to take care of a personal relationship issue that has been nagging at me for 3 years. It was related to my departure from the last job I ever held before I entered my encore career here on the internet as a baby boomer entrepreneur.
Without sharing the details – there was alot of imagined fear I had about resolving this and as such I had pushed it aside as not important and not urgent. But for all this time it was still there nagging and festering. Like I said there was fear there! Well today I had the courage to confront my fear and address the problem in spite of the fear!
Let me be real clear the fear was not gone so it was easier to address. The fear was still there – blaring and had gotten worse as I wanted to deal with this and others said no forget it – it isn’t resolve-able. Reference.com seems to think that courage is facing the difficulty with no fear. Real Courage is doing the deed in spite of the fear! Courage supports one in taking action and to push on through the fear.
I did the deed in spite of the numerous fears associated with this and although not resolved – the nagging and urging is no longer as rampant as it was. Now that an initial step on my plan has been taken – I do have less fear to moving forward and taking further action!
Courage enabled me to take action and the action taken reduced the level of fear. I wanted to share a quote on courage to close this post out – about success and courage!
“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.”
Orison Swett Marden
