Courage

Courage – the mere mention of this word can cause an overwhelming amount of emotion and shake the dust off of even the most deepest and desperate of memories from our past. For some reason, either known or unknown, courage seems to be a word that is often held in very high esteem and a title given to those deserving of such praise and recognition.

The first image of courage that usually awakens within me is the tale of “The Cowardly Lion” from “The Wizard of Oz” and his quest to find his courage. We are introduced to the character midway through the film where we see him challenging the traveling trio of Dorothy, Scarecrow, and The Tin Woodsman to fight or otherwise leave his domain. When he means to harm Toto, he promptly earns a quick slap to the snout from Dorothy and bursts into a fit of tears. We come to find out that this proud lion – the so-called “King of The Jungle” who is intent to rely upon his reputation for ferocity - that only moments earlier was backed-up by his penchant for bullying and braggadocio, is nothing but a “scaredy cat” that is afraid of his own shadow and is more human than we care to admit.

The fall and rise of the “Cowardly Lion” character itself is a profile in courage. We find many things appealing and intriguing about any person or persons whose fall from graces finds them rummaging about in the lowest depths of self and society, only to discover that their re-birth and rise from the pits of despair can be reclaimed by a swift stroke of fate or a happening that causes heads to turn, eyes to blink and hearts to skip a beat!
Ultimately, The Cowardly Lion discovers (much like his accompanying quest mates) that the thing he had so wanted to have – courage – was something he had possessed all along but had never been challenged or had the nerve to rely upon it until that moment of moments had dared showed itself.

The Webster’s Dictionary definition of courage is multi-faceted. Courage is defined as the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty; having courage implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty. All of this taken into consideration, we can conclude that a hero is also very closely linked to the ideals and feats that surround the definition of courage. There is a very fine line that separates the two entities, and to elaborate upon such matters would be pointless quite frankly. For argument sake, we will tie these two entities into one group and save the diatribe on being a hero for a later entry…

To tell you quite honestly, I really do not know exactly what true courage is. Now days, we are more likely to be confronted by the “hero of the moment” or the casual “good guy for the day” with all the Hollywood good looks thrown into the mix for good measure. It’s quite difficult for anyone in the media business to pass up a story that surrounds courage, stress and heroic tales of danger and adventure. We, the public, tend to eat such stories up like a hot plate of deep-fried Oreo cookies and keep coming back time and time again to ask for more and more. It is our nature to latch on to something deemed “wholesome, good and right” because it is something that we rarely see today – that fact that we hear more and more of the bad and spend less time focusing on the good is a rather disturbing trend indeed!

A closer look at the definition of courage can really have one scratching and racking their brains for any true answers. Much like the “Cowardly Lion” we too have been thrust into a quest of sorts to define and find some sort courage to rely upon and call our own. We are blessed with small instances and moments of courage that line the highways of our lives like so many mile markers to keep us headed in the one true direction. Whether we find ourselves stuck at a crossroad in our lives or even waiting for a traffic light in rush hour traffic, courage it seems is something that we already possess, yet fail to recognize much like the Cowardly Lion.

In essence, we all have some bit of courage that we have come to rely upon in times of moral, physical, mental or spiritual dilemma - that inner part of our courage which lies buried beneath a calm exterior and is always there, yet laying just below the our outward surfaces like a crouching tiger waiting to pounce upon its prey. Unconsciously, we never know of its existence until after the fact. The amount of courage propelled forward is often in direct proportion to the amount of physical danger involved. Any good adrenaline junkie will tell you that the first few seconds of any stunt are often the slowest – as if the world is going in slow motion. Time stops – senses tunnel and focus upon the moment and all sounds become a faint murmur of background noise. Courage quite often turns out to be the catalyst that gives us the insight to see the clearer definition of right and wrong and provokes a response within us – a lighting of the fires – that propels us headlong into a realm that seems befit with tales of goodness, heroic moments, instances of neglect of self and recognition of the very spirit which ties us all to our fellow humankind.

Why is it that people who are recognized as heroes or someone who has performed extreme acts of courage are often quick to shrug-off our so-called feats of courage? Even when thrust into the spotlight of courage, we often find ourselves shrinking from its glow and humbled by our existence – almost embarrassed to have been recognized in the first place. In our minds, we were only doing what is deemed “right” to begin with, so being singled-out or lauded for something that we see as commonplace almost seems ridiculous and outright silly. We accept the done deed and try to live a normal life – unburdened by the weight of being hailed as a “hero.” It is this very definition of human courage that makes it able for us to sit and recognize the feat as something “above and beyond” – because that is exactly what it is.

We can also hypothesize that true courage is an uncommon virtue in today’s society – a fickle endangered species that is in need of a revival. If you have watched the network news lately you hear less about the courage of the common people and more about the acts of corruption, treachery and indecency that have become so common in our 21st century society.

On a much more optimistic note, I have faith that we humans will someday recognize our inner courage and allow it to guide us upon a path of enlightenment. Really, it is a simple matter of evolution. Either we will recognize the changes and make the decision to either get off at the next exit, or miss the ramp altogether and head straight into oblivion and extinction. When it comes right down to it, were in this for the species – it all boils down to making a choice between what we deem to be right and what we see as being wrong. We must come to realize and recognize that it takes a certain amount of fortitude to pluck the instrument that is courage, but you need not be an orchestral member to have admission to this symphony! It could be anyone, anywhere at any given time – the true desire and ability to be a hero is inherent within each and everyone of us – guided by our “Jiminy Cricket” consciences, the split second decisions between the right and wrong have us traveling upon the razors edge – cut-off from all sense of self and recognizing that there is something more to life than just instances of self indulgence and outright sloth.

We all have the potential to be heroes – given the right ingredients. Everyday that we get up and go to work, spend time with our children, do a good deed for another person without thought of reward and show that we truly do care about our fellow mankind, then we ourselves can be deemed as an everyday hero for showing courage. The kind of courage that I speak of is not often seen but is always appreciated!

I will conclude that courage or the act of being courageous, although not as common in our society as it should be, should not act as a measurement in defining the person or the feat; rather it is the person that helps to define the amount of courage based upon their character and their ability to place themselves and the needs of others ahead of their own. Some would call it being unselfish. Others would have you believing that it was valor, virtue and a wry twist of fate that lead them to be in the right place at the right time. I for one am not ashamed to admit that courage is our ability to face adversity and allow ourselves to be human – because of great acts of courage, there is a hope that rises within us - restoring our tortured and withered spirits which allows us to plant a greater belief in humanity and out fellow mankind. There is a hero and the courage to be a hero that lies dormant within all of us – we only need answer its call when it come knocking upon our collective doors!

(Knock! Knock!)

(Originally published 24 April 2006 on the blog "The Curbside Philosopher")