Let there be no doubt, there are two outcomes to our actions. If we are courageous we are putting ourselves out there with strength and conviction. If we are not courageous we are giving in to our fears and feeling the cowardice that goes hand and hand with it. When I was younger I felt that giving up my life before I had even lived it was foolish. But not all acts of courage require me to forfeit my life. I may have felt that then but it was not true. I could have been more forceful in my stance for righting wrongs if I would have realized that being courageous is actually the pinnacle of living. Yet I wasn't and I am here to say so that others may have an opportunity to learn from my mistakes. I don't mind being an example of how not to do things as long as I stopped the wrong behavior and thinking and changed it to right behavior and thinking.
I often use my own experiences to describe human nature, acts and thoughts because for one thing I know what I have thought and done without any doubt. For another we all seem to respond closely enough to similar circumstances one way or another for me to extrapolate out what I could have done as opposed to what I actually did. Live and learn and then get better. When I shied away from a fight I was being a coward in that my fear overtook my resolve to stand for principle. I remember those moments far more than the ones where I did take a stand and felt the thrill of triumph over harm. Those cowardly moments are hard on me as I see myself as better than that but it was was it was and no one is harder on me than me.
But those moments of cowardice are behind me and the selfishness I experienced letting myself be a coward didn't help anyone. Today I am much more confident in the selfless actions I take because in the end I am greater than lesser and the only way to prove that is by showing it. Since I was a child I have always wanted to be a force for good and living in my courage allows me that opportunity. I know I will pay a price someday sooner or not that will require my life but that is not as fearful now since I am older and have lived my life. But I wish with all my being that I had been open to learning how much more life is worth living when courage is the first and only option. I always think of my personal hero Nathan Hale and his defiant and courageous death statement made when he was only 21 years old, http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/revolut/jb_revolut_hale_1.html.
I often use my own experiences to describe human nature, acts and thoughts because for one thing I know what I have thought and done without any doubt. For another we all seem to respond closely enough to similar circumstances one way or another for me to extrapolate out what I could have done as opposed to what I actually did. Live and learn and then get better. When I shied away from a fight I was being a coward in that my fear overtook my resolve to stand for principle. I remember those moments far more than the ones where I did take a stand and felt the thrill of triumph over harm. Those cowardly moments are hard on me as I see myself as better than that but it was was it was and no one is harder on me than me.
But those moments of cowardice are behind me and the selfishness I experienced letting myself be a coward didn't help anyone. Today I am much more confident in the selfless actions I take because in the end I am greater than lesser and the only way to prove that is by showing it. Since I was a child I have always wanted to be a force for good and living in my courage allows me that opportunity. I know I will pay a price someday sooner or not that will require my life but that is not as fearful now since I am older and have lived my life. But I wish with all my being that I had been open to learning how much more life is worth living when courage is the first and only option. I always think of my personal hero Nathan Hale and his defiant and courageous death statement made when he was only 21 years old, http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/revolut/jb_revolut_hale_1.html.
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