Courage is not the absence of fear. It is fear walking. 

I watched a really good Ted talk with a client the other day. I’ll have to share more about it once I’ve let my thoughts percolate a bit more.

For now, I’ll just share this quote!

I loved it because I haven’t really thought about courage and fear being so tied together. 

I know fear – something we all have in one form or another – is what prevents you from doing something. Sometimes that’s a good thing as it keeps us safe, but more often than not, fear prevents us from moving forward into zones we are simply uncomfortable in. 

I have often thought that you either have fear – or you don’t. If you are doing something, it’s because you did not have fear. You were different. You were lucky. Lucky to be born that way. Lucky to have just developed that way. 

I love how this quote points out that actually the fear is still there for us all. But you are using something very powerful to work with it and help you overcome it: courage. 

When I looked courage up, it read: courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.

Hmm. Love the use of the words “choice” and “willingness”. No where does it say “you have it or you don’t” or “innate” or “some people are lucky enough to have it”.

I also love Thomas S. Monson’s definition:
“Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow”.

That really puts it into perspective, for me: courage is something small that grows when we just try. 

May we all find courage to use our courage a bit more.