Courage

Reading the book “A Hobbit, a Wardrobe and a Great War” has been an incredible eye opener for me.
Someone, somewhere, sometime (shows how much I know) took a vote on the most popular book and most popular album.  “Dark Side of the Moon” won the most popular album, and “The Lord of the Rings” won the most popular book.
Tolkien said the Hobbits represented ordinary Englishmen, made small, not by the reach of their courage, but by the reach of their imagination.  That statement got me thinking about imagination and courage.
To me it is certainly good to have both.  If, however, I had to pick one over the other, I think courage matters more.  Certainly I want a vivid and good imagination, but without courage it can all fall in a heap.
I don’t know what I may face.  It may be beyond anything I imagined.  To me, that is ok, as long as I have the courage to confront it.  I reckon the hobbits faced things they had never dreamed of.  The shire was their comfort zone.  They knew all about it, and what to expect.  When they were taken from it, so much happened that was out of left field for them.  The good thing to me was, they took on each challenge one at a time, and dealt with them.  That was their courage. 
Of course it did not mean they did not make mistakes.  I remember Gandalf saying “you stupid Hobbit.”  As in life, mistakes cost.  Some mistakes cost them big time.   One mistake they made was to start a fire, which attracted the wraiths.  Frodo was wounded, and he never fully recovered.  Fortunately they had courage.  For me, without courage, I am likely to play dead, or run and hide at the first sign of trouble.  Facing stuff does not guarantee it will turn out well for me.  It is just that I would rather that, then to shrink back from something and never know.  The cost of courage though can be horrific. 
The name of the group “21 Pilots” came from a decision by someone to send pilots up, and it turned out to be an incredible misadventure.  It cost 21 pilots their lives.  In wars, there are decisions made which are known to be wrong, to everyone but the protagonist.  To what I think is their credit, people courageously obey even when it costs them.  I read of a guy to be burned at the stake.  The first time he reneged when being lead to be burned.  The second time he stood firm and went through with it.
His story speaks volumes to me personally about courage.  Just because I am not up to the task, does not mean I will never be up to the task.