Courage is a beautiful thing (#962)

When I was a young boy I was so in awe of people for speaking their minds about things that were not safe to say. I marveled at the confrontation some took to express an outrage at an injustice or to stop others from committing bad acts. For me, courage is the willingness to stand up to danger, in whatever form it takes, and speak or act truth to forces that represent that danger. Not all courageous stands have won and many have paid dearly for honorable ideals, yet today as I remember my memories of those times I still admire the strength and conviction some displayed. My life has been shaped by those types of actions that bring out the best of what it is to be human. Personally, I got away from being courageous throughout my life because I wanted to be selfish instead. I know all about being selfish and realize, never to late by the way, that being courageous is far more that which makes me human than any illusion of self-satisfaction. I am not the most courageous nor am I the most cowardly or ambivalent, yet I do feel the draw or kinship with the feeling of courage like I do with love. Both have a solid place in my life but the one that got away from me for so many years has finally come home to me. I am courageous today about what is important in life. I do stand up for those who have no voice. I also challenge those who do have a voice but use it for less than noble motives. I have the courage today to confront ignorance, not with a shrug or acquiescence but with logic and reasoning to rebut. I am the man I always wanted to be, however imperfect, still that man. Every new day brings about more determination and willingness on my part to confront even greater threats to our progress as a race, whatever that form may be however, I am ready and willing to stand with strength against it. We fight against ourselves and that is immature but that is the current state of our human existence.