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Courage!

What is it and how can I get some?

By Maurice BernierPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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Photo by Simon Greenwood on Unsplash

COURAGE!!!

Some people have it and most of us don't. What is courage? According to Wikipedia, "Courage (also called bravery or valour) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss. The classical virtue of fortitude (andreia, fortitudo) is also translated 'courage', but includes the aspects of perseverance and patience." That is the denotation and some connotation of the word COURAGE.

How does one know if they have courage? Well, in my pathetic life, let me show some examples when I lacked courage.

I can think back to various situations when I chose not to take on various school and neighborhood bullies. Instead, like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz, it was much easier to "run that day to live and run another day." It wasn't easy. That is why I was such an easy mark in my life.

There was a time when I was too afraid to approach the one I loved. I procrastinated and procrastinated because I was truly intimidated by her beauty. By the time I thought I had found the courage to ask her out, I found out that she died a few days earlier. I wish I had courage earlier.

There was a time when I was in high school when I had to go to another town to take care of some business. I saw a lady, possibly a streetwalker, who was getting beat up by a pimp. I guess that she either did not do as told and he felt that a physical discipline session was in order. Instead of going to the woman's aid, I chose to walk on. What chance did a 16-year-old have against a fully grown man, especially one who could have had a gun on his person? So, I walked away. I only hoped that some cop saved her and that she did not die at the hands of that beast.

To this day, I still can't climb a ladder of any sort without the specter of me falling off and busting my can somewhere. However, I find it a bit easier to hop on a plane to visit family and friends in California. I can even enjoy a visit to a high rise apartment and look out over the balcony at a sunset with no fear of falling at all. Go figure.

Those are just some of the situations when I did not have courage. Here are situations where others have had it.

I think of my parents and my baby sister who bravely faced death in the form of cancer. They did not complain. In fact, they put on a brave face. If they were scared, they did not show it as death carried them away to their eternal life. That is REAL courage!

I even think of my loved one whose life was also claimed by cancer. Even though I was not there to help and support her, I am also sure that she put on a brave and very pretty face. That is REAL courage!

I think of the cop who walks a beat, especially in a dangerous area when he or she knows not where the next bullet is coming from. Sometimes, they have to stare down the barrel of a gun or guns hoping and praying that the bad guy does not win this battle. It takes a lot of courage to go out to work each time and not know if they will ever see their family that night. That is courage!

I think of the fireperson who rushes into a burning building to save an untold number of lives. Sometimes they are successful in their quest. Other times they are not. Still, they go in to do what others can't do. That is courage!

There are the ordinary folks who are in a rescue profession who exhibit courage. I can think of a person who, when someone collapses on a sidewalk, they quickly administer CPR to the victim in order to save a life. That is courage!

I turned my back to a lady who needed my help. I did not help her. It reminded me of the Spiderman character who turned his back on someone when he was needed to help them. That perpetrator was the one who killed Spiderman's Uncle Ben. Even though that was just a fictional cartoon, I often thought about that happening to someone in my family and I would have been the one who could have stopped him earlier while he was beating a helpless woman.

I think of other children who repeatedly stand up to their bullies. I wish that I had their courage at their age. It takes a whole lot of courage to face one down. That is courage!

Then, we have the ladies who are left to raise a child on their own. They act as mother and father. They do all they can to meet their child's needs despite the criticism of others. I heard a story about a single Mom with FIVE children. She went on with school, attended law school, and became an attorney. That is courage!

I think back to September 11, 2001, when we were attacked by four of our hijacked airlines. Two of the hijacked planes hit our World Trade Towers here in New York City. While people were trying to get out of these burning buildings, rescue personnel—fire fighters, police, EMT's and others—rushed TO the danger zone to save others. Some made it out alive with their victims. Others perished. I was fortunate. No, I was not there, but my brother Arthur—a former police officer—was. He saved many lives that day including his own. That is REAL courage!

It did not stop there. There were others who, when our country called upon them to seek out those who wanted to harm us, suited up with our Armed Forces and went to Iraq and Afghanistan to seek out these murderers. On June 21, 2008, Sgt. Andrew Seabrooks of the South Ozone Park section of Queens, New York and three of his men were killed when their tank rolled over an explosive device in Afghanistan. Why did I mention him? Because some 15 years earlier, he was a student in my seventh-grade class. I taught him. He was a bright and brave young man who was cheated out of a long and productive life. He gave his life to save our country. He even sent a portion of his paycheck to his Mom back home so that she could pay the rent on the domicile she lived in. That is REAL courage!

So, in a nutshell, that is what courage or bravery is. It is not confined to a definition. It is defined by example. It separates the hero from the common folks like me. A hero is a person with nerves of steel and the ability to prove it. A hero goes where and further than no other person before (or even after) them. Courage is doing the right thing when everyone else is doing the wrong thing. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. proved that. Some people have it. Others don't. Some need to bring it out over a period of time. Still, others will never have it and are content to live as cowards. As far as I am concerned, I do not know if I will ever be brave. Time will only tell for sure.

I wish I had some courage.

The Freedom Tower in New York City, the Site of the Former Twin Towers

Photo by Dean Rose on Unsplash

self help
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About the Creator

Maurice Bernier

I am a diehard New Yorker! I was born in, raised in and love my NYC. My blood bleeds orange & blue for my New York Mets. I hope that you like my work. I am cranking them out as fast as I can. Please enjoy & share with your friends.

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