“Courage is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children.  Courage comprises all things.”

Plautus

For as long as I can remember, every Monday morning, I think of a subject that I want to focus on in the coming week.  I never know exactly what it will be in advance, but the ideas seem to materialize on their own; although, I rather think they come from listening to the pulse of our global world.  We live in a highly interconnected planet where the stories, photos, and videos carry messages from one side to the other with the swiftness of what was once considered science fiction.

Today, my thought was “courage.”  The world is full of courageous people who are, at this very moment, facing difficult circumstances in their struggle to overcome inequality and oppression.  We admire and applaud the remarkable courage demonstrated in times of danger and conflict.  But courage, most often takes on a more subtle guise, so as to be mistaken as ordinary or overlooked altogether.

This week, I want to explore the meaning of courage within our daily interactions. Courage is defined as the capacity to do something that frightens you, the ability or quality of dealing with or facing danger, fear, pain, and the resolve to act in accordance with your value and belief system. Perhaps, courage brings us the closest to understanding the nature of our humanity.

“If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision and courage.  These things are rarely produced by committees.  Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself.”

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.