To Have Courage, You Must Believe
“Courage faces fear and thereby masters it… Courageous men never lose the zest for living even through their life situation is zestless…We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
It’s a good day to talk about courage.
When we talk about heroes, like Martin Luther King, or any other leader we admire, whose words and deeds had a positive impact on our lives and inspired action, we find that they all had one thing in common. Yes, they were all visionaries who overcame fear and doubt to successfully accomplish the seemingly impossible. But, their ability to demonstrate courage came from the seed that inspired it. It came from belief.
- The belief that its intrinsic value was great, and surpassed the risk and fear associated with its possible consequences
- The belief that their vision would serve the greater good – not their own personal agendas.
- The belief that one solitary voice could resonate in the hearts and minds of others, inspiring them to take action.
- The belief that once shared, their vision would move others to take action that would change lives for the better.
We all have dreams and visions. We all have courage too, but we don’t muster it up as often as we should. Maybe we have a good idea, or have a secret mission we’re afraid to share. We may discount it as ‘pie in the sky.’ Maybe we just don’t have the time to play it out in our heads and determine its viability. Maybe we’re too busy taking care of the business of business to map it out. Maybe we simply don’t believe in it enough. Then again, maybe we’re just not sure we have what it takes to see it through.
What differentiates our heroes from the mere mortals whose dreams go by the wayside?
The heroes we admire had/have visions and dreams that serve/served the macrocosm – the world view. They make headlines. We hear about their successes and failures, triumphs and tragedies a lot.
But courage scales and we don’t need mass media to get out voices heard. All of us, in our own ways, have the capacity to courageously impact our microcosms – our families, businesses, communities, and as such change our lives and those around us for the better.
True leaders are disruptive: they challenge the status quo to create positive change. We do that too. We just may need to recognize that a bit more often.
Courage begins with belief. If you have a dream worth believing, you’ll have the courage to see it through.
Here’s what 12 others have said about it. You might find some of your heroes among the authors.
- “One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
- “Courage is being scared to death—but saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne
- “Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.” – Tony Robbins
- “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
- “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin
- “There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid.” L. Frank Baum, author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”
- “A single feat of daring can alter the whole conception of what is possible.” –Graham Greene
- “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow. – Dan Rather
- “ Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.” – Charlie Chaplin.
- “ It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – e.e. cummings