Courage

1 Corinthians 16:13-14
13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.

Quotes

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston S. Churchill

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” ― Maya Angelou

“Everyone has talent. What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”― Erica Jong

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” ― Jane Austen

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” ― John A. Shedd

“With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.” ― Margaret Mitchell

Reflection

I’ve had a unique view of courage as I’ve learned to unpack this value and apply it consistently in my life. One way that has manifested itself is in encouraging other people. To encourage someone means to give courage and confidence to someone. It sounds counterintuitive, but I gain more courage in my day-to-day when I encourage other people. It becomes fun and infectious, and it creates a cool culture. It takes nothing away from me as a person to encourage other people.

My reasoning for encouraging other people has a lot to do with the encouraging environment my parents demonstrated and continue to do to this day. They tell me on a very consistent basis how proud they are of both my sister and me. My parents don’t flatter anyone, on the contrary, they are graciously blunt. They continue to challenge me to grow in the areas where I struggle and praise the places where I’ve grown. So I put into practice similar principles they’ve shown, though in my unique way.

I believe everyone needs to be encouraged to grow and be challenged, which is a great way to give and cultivate courage. Be encouraged.