Courage

“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage.”  That was something that I recently read that Robert Louis Stevenson said.  It instantly reminded me of being asked by a young fella if I was scared when I was about to talk to a group of people.  I will never forget saying “if I was I wouldn’t tell you.”
I reckon I saw a great example of something I read that Billy Graham said. “Courage is contagious.  When a brave man takes a stand the spines of others are stiffened.”  Munster, the captain of the Queensland Rugby League team, lost his dad during the origin camp.  He went off to grieve with his family but before going he told the coach he would be back to play.  The coach liked him anyway, but had real empathy having himself lost his dad in January. 
The captain came back and played.  His actions and attitude inspired the team.  Against the odds they won.  So many of them said they lifted for the captain.  Their spines were stiffened.
I was sort of waiting to see what the email from James Clear talked about today, but it was very much along the lines I was already thinking about.  I love something I recently read that said, “courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.”
I really love that because it seems so often I see courage on display unexpectedly.  Someone who steps in to aid another under threat from another person, or fire, or something that will harm without intervention. 
So often it seems courage is the product of a lifetime.  It is the product of building.  It starts small and grows in strength.  Many a time it is the Nevil Nobody who displays it -  having faced storms in the past and gained strength.  Gene Hackman said, “the difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.”  Stepping sideways is to avoid and not face.
I believe that, though I think it is the end of the story that counts.  So often I have not displayed courage and not stood up when it was needed.  Yet to me it is the wanting to that matters.  When I really want something, I work at it.  I may fail many times before I succeed.  Yet succeed I will and have in some matters, when it is what I want and what I go for.