“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”
~Mark Twain
I was at a community meeting the other night, and the facilitators took us through an exercise to help us get to know each other better.
They asked us to grab a partner and to answer three questions:
- Who are you?
- How do others see you?
- Who do you want to be?
It was for the third question that one of my exercise partners answered, “I want to be courageous. I want to be brave.”
That made me pause.
I think of myself as courageous and brave. And I see so many other people who are courageous and brave. They keep going. They stand up for what they believe. I see courage all around me, especially now.
Many people equate courage with fearlessness. And, like Mark Twain, I don’t necessarily think it works that way.
We can be courageous despite our fear and with our fear. We can be courageous and move through our fear. We can breathe and take a step. We can feel the fear and still do what’s right.
I’m not suggesting we ignore fear that may warn us of danger. There are times to listen to those inklings and warning bells. But when we wait to not be afraid at all, we limit our ability to act.
How are you courageous?
Please leave a comment.
If you enjoyed this post, you can read more like it in our book, The Power of Thoughtful Leadership: 101 Minutes To Being the Leader You Want To Be, available on Amazon.
If you want to be even more courageous, contact Lisa at lkohn@chatsworthconsulting.com.
Click here to receive The Thoughtful Leaders™ Blog posts via e-mail and receive a copy of “Ending Leadership Frenzy: 5 Steps to Becoming a More Thoughtful and Effective Leader.”
Photo Credit: siam.pukkato/Bigstock.com