I believe that fear is related to courage. I know that many times that I sit in my therapist's office that fear is what holds me back. I often say that it is liking stepping off of a cliff or precipice. I fear those feelings. I fear admitting to the reality and accepting my dad for who he is.

You know that this just came to me. It is stay where you are. In general, people don't like change. Change requires risk and to do something of the unknown. Now, not all change is accompanied by fear. However, the change that is accompanied by fear does require courage.

I believe that courage is moving forward despite your fears even if it is slow.

For me, I believe that fear, risk, change are all related to courage.

When you think about it, those people who take the biggest risks have the biggest rewards. Now, like I said not all risk comes with fear.

If you think about "David and Goliath" or slaying the enemy that is bigger than others historically, there must have been fear where there was courage to take that risk.

"So you failed. Alright you really failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You think I care about that? I do understand. You wanna be really great? Then have the courage to fail big and stick around. Make them wonder why you're still smiling."

I love this quote because it is so taunting sometimes, depending on the mood that I'm in. It's taunting, but in a positive way. It sums up everything that I believe courage to be. I grasp motivation out of it because it IS true. Failing, falling, being hurt, being abused...all of that is SO easy to run from. That is the easy way out, and that is what people expect. It's the you, sticking around, that people won't expect. And it makes it a lot harder for the world to knock you down if you portray yourself as someone who won't run away. It makes it easier for YOU to be brave if that is the image that you have to live up to.

Ramble...
To sum it up, I love that quote.

I'm still wondering about this question.
Other people have occasionally commented to me that they've seen me display courage, but it's never been at times when I've been thinking about it or even feeling particularly 'brave'.

So can courage be something that pops out by accident sometimes - when you're concentrating on something outside of yourself that needs to be 'fixed' somehow? Doing the right thing simply because it needs to be done and there's no-one else to do it?

And yes, sometimes courage is most definitely a matter of knowing that you're afraid but getting on with it anyway. About a year ago I had to confront my terror of the idea of riding 'pillion' behind someone else on a motorbike - you've got no control, you have to trust the other person completely to keep you safe.
But I was able to get past that with a friend who I knew was trustworthy (OK, so he rides like a maniac on his own, but he'd never put a friend in danger!) And I felt pretty damn amazing after I'd done it for the first time and got home safely :)

Courage can compel us to act.

But does courage also ever cause us to *refrain* from certain actions?

Note that I specifically mean courage--not just "morality" or "decency," as in "these things cause me to refrain from hurting others." Nice fact, but they describe the influence of the latter traits, not necessarily courage. When does courage constrain our behavior?

I can't think of a specific example right now - but perhaps it takes a certain moral courage or strength of character to *refrain* from getting ahead at someone else's expense.
If the easy option is there ahead of you but you know there's a more important principle at stake? Is that just being "nice", or is there a certain courage in that decision?

People often use the phrase "having the courage of your convictions", but what does that really mean?

The courage to not act. To know your limitations and stick to them..sometimes I think that takes courage. Especially if you're a yes person. Saying NO takes a lot of courage.

Im not entirely sure thats what you meant by it constraining us..but its a thought that occured when I read that. All our other posts have been about courage pushing us literally towards something. I guess this is kind of the same - depending on your view.

I think you can be blindsighted by being 'courageous' - or at least your vision of courage. By this I mean pushing yourself to do something or not do something because it is our vision of what SHOULD happen..what courage should be. So it can constrain our true feelings and behaviours.

This may be a strange example, that might not make sense at the end of this post but let's see if I can describe what I'm thinking...

I think it takes a certain amount of courage to refrain from seeking justice against your attacker(s). I think it takes courage TO seek justice legally, as well. But as long as we're discussing refraining from acting, I will focus on the not seeking justice (which has nothing to do with morality, or a religious issue, or choice).

When I made the choice to be done with the police and the legal system and the restraining orders etc. I felt like I was totally giving up and taking the wasy way out. As it is drawn out, though, I've realized that I WANT to pursue it again. I really want to go full throttle into the system, and not take no for an answer anymore, and do whatever it takes to put these reamining people behind bars. That is what would make me feel like I had gotten my "revenge". When it comes down to it though, I know that I have to make the decision NOT to do that, because I am not safe when I make that choice.

This whole concept probably sounds really backwards and wrong to people who don't know what I'm talking about...and I apologize for that.

I think it actually did take me a lot of courage to back off of pursuing wat I wanted...what I really, really wanted, and take care of myself, and focus on moving ahead in my life so that I would have a life to lead.

I thought that I would love this thread the idea of courage. But I haven't been able to get that blood flowing. I just finished a couple posts about a time in my life that I think I felt fear for the first time. Oh well maybe the time I didn't want to get on stage in drama was fear or shyness ... or I just didn't know what was going on...I just didn't feel moved to.

But back to where I've been revisiting. I recall myself going to myself what's this thing that I am experiencing it's making me act weird and I was like UOH it's fear!!!??? I've never felt fear before so this is what it is... oh god this sucks. Is that true that in my 20 some years prior I had not felt fear. But there was a real danger. I think you know what you can handle.

Someone was talking about my dad and how sometimes everyone would be freaking out and he's be calm and jovial and okay and just find the solution. I used to find myself like that alot people freaking out and I'm just like do do do yeah we'll just do this and that maybe even ask someone for something and it's all alright.When you believe in intuition you know when to be afraid or not. So courage is believing and aligning actions to intuition and virtue.

Toughest times is when you are almost 100 percent sure but you have to go against others and also when you personally are so afraid of disappointment ( it's like you then have to go against part of your own self)

I'm not sure ... gosh I thought I would have an easier time with this post.

"Acting in spite of fear"

Maybe I just need a shot of courage.

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.

Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825)

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.

John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)

Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway.

John Wayne (1907 - 1979)

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

In my life I believe there were many times that I demonstrated mastery of fear. In the fearful situation I was a coward because I felt the fear as it was happening and buckled ... didn't act. And I think a lack of hope was behind it.

Courage as the power to restrain from action:

I think of someone like MLK, who refused to strike back against Bull Connor on the Selma Bridge, calling out that "If you attack me, I will love you. If you beat me, I will love you. If you kill me, I will die having loved you!"

The Sioux at Wounded Knee, refusing to fight, even when their lives were destroyed for it.

Having "dirt" on an adversary, but refusing to use it as a weapon. Not sure if that's courage, though, or just the morality I mentioned earlier.

Refusing to join in gay-bashing, sexism, or racism with the crowd around you.

I think all of those examples would be counted as morally refutable, following an example of a moral guideline that has been laid out.

Perhaps it just takes courage to follow that moral road. I doubt that they're two seperate concepts at all.

The courage aspect is present in the fact that abandoning one's moral code would, in the circumstance, be personally advantageous, maybe even life-sparing, for the person. To forfeit the advantage in order to remain authentic is more than morality, it's morality suffused with courage.

So what your saying Matt is Courage and Morality are intertwined, all the example that you gave are evident of that, even when your refuting that they aren't.

Maybe it is something, courage that is, that can imbue various different things such as morality, love, physicality...doing?

That's What I would think Catroot. That courage doesn't stand alone. And that the act of not acting on something takes courage, but you have to look at WHY the person is choosing not to act.