Courage is fear walking.
Being courageous is subjective. Being courageous can be misinterpreted. Being courageous is not just reserved for our elected officials, pro athletes, first responders, or soldiers. Our first responders and soldiers are the best and most courageous among us though.
All too often, people equate the courageous as people who are fearless. I believe true courage is the willingness to respond despite the anxiety and worry that might be tugging at you. Courage is taking action in spite of the fear you feel. Taking that first step despite your entire being telling you no is what defines the word courage for me.
I got the opportunity to host and spend some time with Medal of Honor recipient Ryan Pitts during his stay here in Casper. When I think of courage, I think of him, but not in the way you would expect. He will openly admit that he didn’t join the military out of some sense of duty or a higher calling. He joined because he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do coming out of high school. He knew that he didn’t want to put a financial burden on his parents by going to college. The Army would provide funding for higher education once he figured that out.
I am sure you are probably asking yourself, wouldn’t his courageousness be defined by his acts of valor on July 13, 2008 at Wanat Village in Kunar Afghanistan? The battle he received his Medal of Honor from. Absolutely, without a doubt. But he never once talked about what he did that garnered receiving that Medal of Honor. He talked about the acts of courage from the 9 friends that paid the ultimate sacrifice and the 27 wounded on that day. If you want to read about how truly amazing this guy is, you can follow the link here.
In my eyes, the reason he is the definition of courage is because fear was a part of every milestone in his journey, and still is to this day. What defines him is the fact that despite fear, he took that next step. He decided to respond time and time again regardless of the fear and anxiety that was tugging at him.
We can learn a lot from Ryan’s story. As a soldier, he was courageous because he had to be. He put it all on the line for the men standing beside him because he knew that they would, and did do the same for him. Here is the thing though… you don’t have to be in a war zone or run into burning buildings to be courageous. If you get up every day and make the conscious decision to face fear, do something outside of your comfort zone, and take that next step despite everything in you saying no, you are courageous.
Here is another misconception about courage. People aren’t born courageous. Courage is not an innate ability or hereditary trait. It is a quality gained over time. Courage is a habit we can create through small daily actions.
Understand fear based patterns.
It is crucial to try and understand where fear has become a pattern so that you can interrupt the pattern and stop it from stopping you. Fear shows up in many forms: procrastination, timidness, tepidness, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, anxiety, among other things. To combat this, you need to get clear on what those fear patterns look like so that you can interrupt them when they arise.
Don’t avoid dealing with fear.
This is easier said than done, but you can start small and build up to bigger things. Make a list of the situations, places, or things that you fear. It is very hard to look at fear or to acknowledge the need to change. We make fear into an enemy instead of seeing it as a normal part of being human or taking risks.
Voice your fears.
Talking about your fears doesn't make you weak. The most courageous people I know acknowledge their fears openly. It is not easy to talk about where you are vulnerable. So, if you are able to recognize and admit your fears, you're one step closer to being courageous.
If in doubt, fake it.
This is my go to. I fake it all the time. Often the process of pretending to be braver than you actually feel is where courage begins. There’s a reason they call it putting on a brave face and, by the way, it actually works.
