Being Courageous

Courage is a virtue that is reinforced over and over in books, television shows, and movies. Coaches, military men, and parents talk it about often. It is easy to see why. Courage is an adaptive trait that most of us have to show at different times in our lives in order to move forward.

Dick Button, the well-known ice-skating figure and TV commentator, said that it wasn’t that figure skaters weren’t afraid but rather they performed in spite of their fear. They overcame fear and didn’t let it stop them from competing.

Though some of our best citizens such as fireman, policemen, and soldiers have to express courage on a regular basis, courageous behavior can be seen all around us, if we look closely. It is important to see because if you don’t, then you can’t appreciate and reinforce it.

Courage is a relative term. The boy who walks along into the doctor’s office, the student speaking in class for the first time, and the girl going to her first dance may all be showing great courage. They aren’t letting their anxiety stop them from their goals.

Two instances of courageous behavior come to mind. At a part time position I taught reading to a non-reader, when I was going to graduate school. The man was terrified of stumbling over words and feeling dumb. He showed tremendous fortitude coming week after week to battle his disability. Earlier I taught a boy to dive at summer camp. Like the man above he was very frightened. He was scared of the water, and it took weeks for him to dive into the pool. Some other counselors couldn’t understand why I nominated him for an award at the end of his stay. He wasn’t a particularly popular boy or one the camp leaders, but they hadn’t seen what I saw.

Keep an eye out, and when you see a young person being courageous, let him or her know.