Our pals at Merriam-Webster define Courage as “The Ability to do something you know is difficult or dangerous.”
The Free Dictionary says: “The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger,fear, or vicissitudes with self possession, confidence, and resolution; braver.”
Cambridge Dictionary defines courage as: “The ability to control fear and to be willing to deal with something that is dangerous, difficult or unpleasant.”
Here are my thoughts on Courage. So much of what we define as fear, or danger or difficult is all in our head. We create our own internal drama, and most of it never, ever happens!
How many times have you talked yourself into doing something that scared the bejesus out of you, but when you were done, you thought it was a piece of cake. A bunch, I bet, if you’re being honest with yourself.
Sometimes what we call difficult is just something that we haven’t learned yet. We haven’t stepped outside of our comfort zone to say “heck, I can do that”. Hopefully, we’ve grown past the point of caring what people would say if we failed, or even caring what they think.
I remember when I was 18, I decided to go skydiving with some friends. Did it scare me? Sure!! Was I nervous? Petrified would be a better description. Did I love it? ABSOLUTELY! Did it take some courage? Maybe.
Thinking back, the training was worse than the actual jump. We had to learn to land properly, and I remember climbing up a platform, that if my memory serves me right was about 37 stories tall. Ok, maybe I’m not remembering everything exactly right, but it was tall. We then had to jump, tuck, lean and roll, which would (supposedly) mimic a fall from a plane wearing a parachute. I don’t think so. I think I had to muster up much more courage to jump off a platform than jump out of an airplane. Really I did. You see, I knew from experience how much it could hurt jumping off a platform. Yes, I was a kid once and I’m sure I did some courageous stupid things. And they hurt.
But, I didn’t have any experience jumping out of a plane. Back then, I had never heard of a skydiving accident (this was way before the internet and cell phones), but I don’t think I was being courageous. Adventurous yes. Courageous, no maybe.
One of the things I ask myself, when faced with a situation I don’t know how to deal with is “What’s the worst thing that could happen? And if it does happen, will I be OK with it?” Those 2 questions have helped me in countless situations over the last many decades.
Courage is all about looking past self-limiting belief systems. It’s about recognizing that it’s OK to fail sometimes.
As Tom Kelley, GM of Ideo says “Fail often to succeed sooner”.
So, put your courageous face on, and ask yourself, those 2 questions.
- What’s the worst thing that could happen?
- And if it does happen, will I be OK with it?
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