Courage is the beginning

The memories of moments when you were not able carry out task of your desire will be not very distant. Perhaps, it could be yesterday when you saw a person with whom you wanted to talk but couldn’t collect yourself to walk to that person. Or it could be your last group meeting where you struggled to present your idea and another person told the similar idea and is now hero in your company. All of us feel fear in one situation or another, some are able to hold our nerves while most fail miserably. It is courage which enables a person to tame his fear at crucial moments and win the game of life.

Courage is not just jumping from an airplane, fighting a gorilla or saving a child from burning home. One requires courage in daily routine. It takes courage to walk up to a stranger and make a connection, it takes courage to express your thoughts when you are open to criticism, it takes enormous courage to admit your mistakes, it takes courage to dream high when everyone seeks security, it takes courage to persist when things go wrong, it takes courage to compete when you can lose, it takes tremendous courage to win in the game called life. How far you go in life and how richer your experiences in life will be predominately determined by how courageous you are.

Now the bigger question arises, can one develop courage or is it innate characteristic? The fact is that no one is born with courage. Everyone has fears - fear of losing, fear of uncertainty, fear of being ridiculed, and another hundred and one fears. Courage is not absence of fear, it is acting in spite of fear. A courageous person is not fearless, rather he is one who does not allow fears to govern his decisions. Most people come under pressure and let fear dominate their decisions whereas courageous people make rational choices under fear. Let’s take a common example, public speaking. Most people keep praying hiding in a corner so that they are not called up to speak but few people are comfortable in face of any audience. Is it that latter were born with the talent of public speaking? Absolutely not! It is only that the latter gathered the courage and went to the stage. First time, they fumbled, shivered but didn’t die. Then, they again gathered courage and went to speak for the second, third and tenth time. With every practice, things improved, words started to flow easily and now those people are comfortable with any audience. But the bottom line is that it all started with the first step, with courage to keep the pounding heart under control and walk up to the stage where most people give up.

Who doesn’t know that going with crowd will not lead to a life of dreams but even then most people will never be able to listen to their own heart. Most people will never be able to execute their ideas because they lack courage. Remember, that first time is always scary, first job interview, first day in college, first kiss, first speech, first daring adventure. So, gather the courage to overcome the initial fears and your life will never be same. Just having courage will put you in top 10% of people in the world. Courage is beginning of all changes, foundation of all relationships and mother of all virtues. Be Courageous!