Courage: It's Your Choice

Courage is your choice, always.

Our common expressions like “He had courage” or “He didn’t have courage” are misleading.

Courage is not something we have. It is something we choose. It is a choice made in the moment.

We can choose courage or not. Both are equally choices.

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But what does the word “choice” really mean?

Can we say we chose courage because others supported us? No. Others may have influenced us, but we could have still chosen otherwise despite their encouragement.

Can we say that we didn’t choose courage because it was too frightening to choose courage? No.

Certainly, the level of fear may have influenced us to not choose courage; but we also could have chosen courage in spite of our level of fear.

Courage is a primary choice; no other cause comes before it. To say it is a choice and to say our choice was caused by something else means it was not really a choice because something else was the deciding cause of our choice.

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How do we know we have a choice?

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How can we know that we have a choice about something? By simple introspection and experimentation. It is easy to demonstrate to yourself that you can choose courage or not choose courage in any given circumstance that presents an opportunity for choosing courage.

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A simple example of the awareness of choice

You are standing in line at the bank. You consider striking up a conversation with the person next to you.

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Then, you notice the fears.

“What if they don’t want to be bothered?”

“How will I feel if they ignore me?”

“What if they're not interesting anyway?”

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Now you are aware of the opportunity for choosing courage. In this moment, you are presented with the understanding that you can move the universe with your choice.

You can choose to feel safe in the moment by not trying to strike up a conversation or you can choose to feel the fear and go for what you want, accepting the risk that it may not turn out the way you want.

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We are as God

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Nothing but you is the first cause in the choice you make, one way or the other. You are the first cause in the matter. In this regard, you and I are like God.

Welcome to the good news and the bad news of life. Regarding the choice of courage, it's all in your court. 

Honor yourself for the courage to choose courage every time you do, both before and after, regardless of the results.

"Most people fail in the art of living not because they are inherently bad or so without will that they cannot lead a better life; they fail because they do not wake up and see when they stand at the fork in the road and have to decide."

–Erich Fromm (1900-1980,philosopher)

"Life cannot wait until the sciences may have explained the universe scientifically. We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its coerciveness: it is always urgent, ‘here and now’ without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point blank."

–Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955, Spanish philosopher, essayist)

"The refusal to choose is a form of choice; disbelief is a form of belief."

–Frank Barron (1922-2002, psychologist)