3 Important Facts About Being Courageous

By: Jomarie Aquino

Brave. Fearless. Daredevil. These are some of the words that are synonymous with the word COURAGEOUS. When we hear these words a lot of heroes may come into our minds. Maybe some of you think about Jose Rizal, who proved that a pen is mightier than a sword when he used his novels in revealing the corruption of the Spaniards during their reign in our country. Or maybe some of you think about Alexander the Great, who conquered a lot of nations. You can also think about the soldiers and policemen who are serving the nations. Or maybe the popular Comics superheroes like Batman, Superman, Captain America, Iron Man or even the Sangre of Encantadia. Most of the time these are the individuals whom we believe are men of courage because of their bravery and their powers to do great things and we somehow limit the word COURAGEOUS for them as if they are just the individuals who can be symbols of bravery. That is why before discussing about courage, let me correct that perspective by telling you all that even the fact that we are all existing means that we are all COURAGEOUS. Life is not easy in this world and it is supported by the fact that those people who fail to face this world with courage, give up their lives by committing suicide. Therefore, we can tag ourselves as men of courage.

What I am going to discuss right now are the 3 important facts about being courageous. There are a lot of facts about being brave, fearless and daredevil or in short, being courageous, but let me just give you all the 3 truths about courage. First, being courageous doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means, you don’t let fear stops you. Fear is one of the most popular negative emotions that an individual may feel. And all of us have fears, whether we recognize them or not. Our fears also have different level and the most extreme level of fear is what we call phobia. Some of you may have phobia in spiders or what they call arachnophobia. Some of you may have fear of darkness or Achluophobia. Or maybe Glossophobia, which means fear in public speaking. Whatever the fears you have, whether it is just a simple or an extreme fear, we cannot escape the truth that every one of us has his or her own fears.

In regards with being courageous, most of the perspective that a person can have is that a courageous person doesn’t fear anything. That is not the reality because as individuals who have a lot of emotions, including fear, being afraid is part of the package of life. It doesn’t mean that when you feel afraid to do something, it is finished and you can’t be tagged as courageous anymore. It doesn’t mean that you doubt means you are not brave. Fear can be our initial reaction to a difficulty but it doesn’t end there if you chose not to. You are courageous if you do not let that fear you have stops you in giving the best of your ability. You are brave if you chose to continue despite the fear you have. You are COURAGEOUS if you do not let that hesitation consumed you and ceased you to do what you need to do. Again, being courageous doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid, it means you don’t let your fears stops you.

The second truth about being courageous is that only those who are courageous enough to take risks will be the only people who will accomplish great things in their lives. As the great boxer Muhammad Ali once said and I quote “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” This boxer who has accomplished great things while he was on earth is telling us that you will never accomplish anything if you are not willing and ready to take a risk. Imagine if the soldiers do not take risks when saving citizens during wars, will they accomplish something? Imagine if the doctors do not take risks in performing risky operations for people who are about to die, will they accomplish something? Taking risk is an everyday thing for us to accomplish great things. As long as we are breathing, we will always take risks, unless we are not courageous enough to be productive here on earth. You are courageous if you are ready to take risks. Because every men of courage take risks just to accomplish great things.

The last but not the least about being courageous is: Being courageous means facing whatever is ahead of you because you know that you are not alone as God is always with you. A verse from the Bible in Joshua 1:9 said: “Be strong and courageous….For the Lord will be with you always. This verse proved that when we chose to be courageous, it is not just a decision that we make up in our mind but it is actually fulfilling God’s command and will for us to be not dependent on our ability, not to be dependent on ourselves and not let the fears in our hearts stop us in doing what He wants for us to accomplish. You are not alone. We are not alone. We have a God in heaven who can give us the courage to continue and move forward. And the fact that we are all here right now means that God is with us who are helping us be brave enough to face the day. You are courageous…we are courageous if we recognize that whatever battle we may face every day is not just our battles but God’s battle for us.

To end this speech, let me tell you a true story that will sum up the three points that I have given. The story is about the battle between David and Goliath. This is one of the most popular true stories that we can read in the Bible. The story goes like this, David, when he was still a young boy, went to his brothers to bring them food while they were battling against the Philistine army. When he arrived, he saw the soldiers of Israel trembling with fear because of the giant Philistine soldier named Goliath. Suddenly he told to the soldiers of Israel that he will fight Goliath. At first, everyone hesitates as David was too small and too weak to fight the giant Philistine soldier. But, with courage David took a risk and fight Goliath and to make the story short, he won and killed Goliath. And as time goes by this very courageous young boy, accomplished great things for the kingdom of Israel and became the second king of Israel.

Again being courageous doesn’t mean you are not afraid, it means that you are not letting that fear stops you. Just like what David did when he did not let his fear halted him in killing Goliath. Being courageous also means taking risks to accomplish great things, as David take risks to achieve great things for the kingdom of Israel and I truly believe that David hold onto God’s promise when God said in Joshua 1:9: Be strong and courageous…For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. And it is supported by what David’s said to Goliath: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. Again, Being courageous means facing whatever is ahead of you because you know that you are not alone as God is always with you. Let us all be God’s Men of Courage.