It’s Okay to be Scared

My friends and I were heading up the street to my house and these two people were sitting on their bikes waiting to fight us.  The reason this was happening was because my brother had chucked an apple and it broke on the road and half of it hit one of the kids on their bike.  While we were walking by I was trying to ignore them but they were swearing at us over and over. I was scared but I stayed brave and passed by.  I made it home safely but I was still scared for the rest of the day.  I later learned that I was being courageous when I walked by them.  Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one.  There are lots of different types of courage.  Some of those types would be facing fears, overcoming adversity, and being brave.  Someone who has courage would be like batman because he saves people even if it’s a matter of life or death.

Courage is facing fears.  Jumping off of a cliff with a parachute would be facing a fear if the person was scared to do that.   If someone was scared of heights and they hiked a tall, tall mountain then that would be facing a fear.  Stunt devils probably have lots of fears but they act like they’re not scared because they’re performing.  They’ll tightrope walk over spikes and still make it to the other side making it look like it’s nothing.  Usually it’s the audience that are scared to watch it, but if you think about it, imagine how scared the stunt devil would be.  When I was a kid I was afraid of the dark so whenever I would go in my basement to get something I would hurry and run upstairs as fast as I could.  After a while I would just walk up the stairs slowly to get rid of my fear.  That helped and now I’m not scared of the dark anymore.  Facing a fear is getting over a phobia.

Courage is overcoming adversity.  When I was eleven years old my grandpa died, and he was an awesome grandpa.  He was funny and told lots of jokes.  I missed him so much, but then I realized that it was his time to leave and that he had a good life.  I was just happy that he didn’t die before I was born.  When I realized that, I was overcoming adversity.  Being on a wheelchair for a long time and still being able to do things that you thought you couldn’t do is overcoming adversity.  Someone was really sick and they knew they were going to die from their sickness but they just ignored that and went on with life.  That would be overcoming adversity.  A kids mom died and he was so sad for a long time and then he just decides that that was the past and there is nothing he could do about it.  He decides to live a normal life.  He has courage, and part of that courage is overcoming adversity.

Courage is having bravery.  Say this bully walks up to a kid and starts picking on him and he just walks away and tells an adult.  Then that kid is definitely brave.  Another example of being brave would be.  A child came home and his parents were mad at him for something they thought he did but he really didn’t.  The kid told his parents that they were wrong and his parents believe him.  Some people break the law, but there are times when it happens for a good reason.  If someone were to break the law for a good reason, then that would be courage in a brave way.  Imagine a scout camping with his troop.  He is sleeping in a tent alone.  During the night a bear comes and breaks into his tent.  The scout had learned in scouts that he was supposed to play dead and curl in a ball..  He decided to give it a try.  The next thing he knew, the bear was gone.  That kid has bravery.

Courage is always very helpful in life.  Someone without courage would probably be shy all the time and maybe even depressed.  If it ever came to a point where they had to be courageous they wouldn’t know what to do.  Sometimes even if there is a situation where something bad can happen or the person is scared they just do it anyway. It is much easier to be courageous by focusing on the good things that can happen, not the bad.  Courage is sticking up to something that is feared and doing it anyway.

Honesty in Courage

When the life of reality gets in the way, and you have absolutely nowhere to go, you need to just keep swimming! Everywhere, in life there is something that everybody wishes could change, but a little newsflash, it won’t! Not unless you get out there and defend yourself my little fishy! You make the difference! All you need.. Is a little courage! Courage is the power in yourself, and it comes out in rough times, courage is anything you want it to be, faith, bravery, time, and fun, anything!!

One definition of courage is bravery. Standing up and keeping cool when something gets rough. Like when Chelsey Sullenberger landed the plane in the Hudson River . He kept his cool, took charge, and landed the plane safely in the river. He made it his job to keep everyone safe. That takes a lot of courage! It also takes lots of courage to face death, to look death in the face and say, “I’m not afraid of you.” Many people find this courage. And my last example is love, love is most definitely courage.

Courage is to look on the bright side. In Apollo 13 they got caught around the moon, but they looked at the bright side and said “Yeah I’m cold, and hungry, but at least I got to see the dark side of the moon, I was the first to look at the dark side of the moon.” They were looking on the bright side. When things get rough in a situation, just look on the bright side. When my grandfather fell off the cliff. He still to this day says “ At least I got to stay and take care of my kids, even if I was broken for a while.” He is now 70 years old!! Another thought of courage is time. It takes courage to take your time. Time is within the boundaries of courage.  If you don’t have the time for anything, how do you know that you have courage?

It takes a ton of courage to not think, “Why me?” Instead think, why not me? Why shouldn't it be me? I would rather it be me, other than my little sisters, or my mother. I’d rather it be me than some poor little child that already has it rough. If it were up to everyone, the diseases and sickness’ would be gone I’m sure. Think “Why, not me?” When your little brother, or sister, or mother, or grandmother, needs help. Give them the help that they want, need, or deserve. Think “Why, not me?” When that kid you see every single day, get bullied. Think why can’t I be the one to stand up for that kid. Why can’t it be I who makes a difference in this world? Courage is anything you want it to be, faith, bravery, time, fun, anything! 

    Courage doesn’t just show up. You find it, within yourself. Courage isn’t just Bravery, or the Bright side, or Why me?. Courage is faith, wisdom, love, life. Think about it for a second without courage, there would still be that important question just waving in the wind. There would be that criminal still on the streets, that child still getting abused. And that homeless man still getting beat up, because he’s filthy, and on the streets. There would still be terrorists trying to take over the country. There would still be kids still fighting cancer. Courage is all these things and more, it’s not just all that, it’s so much more. Courage to me most of all though? Is the faith, courage ain’t nothin’ without faith..

The Illusion of the Lionheart

Courage is an illusion.  It's defined differently by every perspective.  It's said to be facing fears, or to sit down, and listen.  Despite what is said, it has no viable definition, because as much as it’s a word, it's a feeling.  It’s the butterflies in the pit of a stomach the first time when sitting on a swing, the jittering of reluctant bones, the loss of certainty, forcing a throat open, speaking to the crowd, and getting over the fact that all of this should have been impossible.  It’s in truth an addiction, that certainly must never cease to inspire.

Bursts of courage are fireworks, destroying the human’s set of mind, and creating a new goal to accomplish, in the heat of the moment, while the only chance of survival is slim, but possible. This experience is rare, it appears in an instant, and disappears as quickly. It’s a man with only thoughts of survival on his mind changing the course of a failing plane into the wide Hudson river.  Showing the bully what he said isn’t acceptable.  Being someone who lacks any form of authority deciding to become the authority, and save what is otherwise lost.

To feel courage rise from hard working lungs into voice is an amazing feeling.  Life seems much more worth living when there is audacity screaming out.  It all shows when slamming a poem in front of a crowd, letting them know that this was what a heart’s work made.  Displaying what is thought even if it could be wrong, or could seem abnormal. Standing tall, and letting everyone know that there is someone on this planet who has a clear picture of what they are, and what they believe.  It's standing up as not only one, but as a group of something more, as a representative of a cause.  It’s speaking through words, and articles, letting the words flow from stout fingertips through the keyboard, and on to the page, as a songbird singing to the almost forgotten sun at the end of winter.  Giving more, and more so that the world knows what we can share.

The hardest way to show courage is to forgive, and forget.  Having a lionheart, and letting the evil ideas that tried to invade bounce of like a roar in a cave.  It’s being able to forget the mean words that have been said, and not let them bother logic.  It’s letting someone who caused deep, immense pain off with only a short glance.  It’s letting the problems in life slide off the conscious like rain off a newly bought umbrella, on a spring day. It could be a teenager forgiving someone who “broke their heart”, an enemy giving up the fight, or someone who was bullied forgetting it happened.

Courage is not letting anyone define who it is behind the mask.  It's making a new image, editing, and revising until the whole world is lost trying to figure out what’s left.  It shows that it's impossible not to get better, but on the inside staying the same.  Overall the addiction swells the heart, and brings great inspiration into the lives of others, might as well lost.  Once courage is gained it’s hard to stop reaching for it.

Overall courage is having a lionheart, reacting fast, speaking out, and ignoring impending changes.  It cannot be determined by one mindset, one idea, or one reality.  It’s nothing, and everything.  Courage is not small, and comes with a price, but ignoring courage, is the choice of not living.  Live to survive unbearable instances.  Stand tall, and present true beliefs.  Be an umbrella, let the words slide off.  Don’t ignore the courage, embrace your lionheart, and live the illusion.

Finding Courage

Courage. Courage is a big word to describe. Courage has myriad of meanings. When you state one concept about courage, somehow, someway, you end up tying and twisting another one into it. There are so many different opinions about it too; when you add these concepts, opinions, and definitions, there is still only one word that everyone can understand and relate to: courage.

Courage is bravery. A fireman  drives to a quickly disintegrating house, not knowing if he will be able to save the people inside or himself. Being the hero once again, he charges into the house without fear, knocking  in the door and locating the sound of helpless cries coming from the room in the fiery back hall. Harper Lee wrote in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, “Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” Courage is not shown by a man holding a gun, but a man that shows it in his actions and words. And knowing that, you most likely won’t win; but you do it anyway, with a leap of faith, knowing that you have even a slight chance of succeeding.

Think of this for a minute. A man with no arms or legs is going to climb the tallest mountain in the world! Kyle Maynard fearlessly climbed Mount Kilimanjaro without any limbs, the only protection he had was pieces from a  rubber tire taped on the stubs of his arms and legs. He went up with a confident spirit and the bravery of a lion.

Average school teachers have also shown bravery in the past. At Sandy Shook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, a man arrived and started to kill the kindergarteners. Teachers protected them and six of them sacrificed their lives for the innocent children. Their acts of bravery saved the kindergarteners from being shot. Bravery is sometimes hard to show, but it is required and greatly appreciated on many occasions.

Courage is not  hoarding excuses. A boy, eight or ten is sitting at his desk with his head down, his hands resting on the outer edge of the inside of his desk. He slowly turns the lego man over and over in his hand; he stole, he knew he did wrong. But why is it so hard just to say, “I am sorry for taking your toy,” and then hand it over? But their is a common excuse we all use: “What if he gets mad and doesn’t want to be my friend anymore,” kind of thing. We care too much about what other people think about us, asking for forgiveness is not as easy as it sounds. But we just need to buck up and say, “ I am my own person and I should only worry about what I think of myself.”  

On your parent's couch in the basement, you sit and stare at the intriguing video game that you are enjoying. This  has been the daily routine for about two years. After your character dies, a thought pops into the back of your mind, “Hey, when are you going to go to college and actually get a job?” The excuse tactic immediately kicks in and you start to recite the meaningless, “Oh it’s just to hard, and I am really tired right now.” Going through college takes a lot of discipline and not a lot of excuses, telling you to go and play video games instead of homework. But unless you want to be a bum on the streets then you want to kick all of those excuses out of the way and just say, “I am going to do it!’

Courage is facing your worst fears. Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.” A teenage girl is standing at the foot of a 200 foot tall rock climbing wall. She is trying to calm herself down by saying it is just a wall that is 200 feet tall that I am going to climb with a rope that is hooked to me that is going to save me from dying. All I have to do is put my hands and feet on these knobs and just repeat. Imagine that you had a phobia of going outside, and you haven’t left your house for over six weeks. And an 11 year old girl emails you and asks you to leave your comfy home, drive in a cab, take an airplane, a boat, and a junky old car to come and help her find her father. And you literally have to push yourself out of the door.

Underwear, they are all in their  underwear, think underwear. That is what is going through a very shy teenager’s head as she stands up to give her graduation speech. She stops at the podium, adjusts the microphone and looks up to see the first pair of striped underwear. A smile crosses her lips as she fearlessly starts reading the first paragraph.

No matter how we face our fears, stop hoarding our excuses, or find our own acts of bravery, we need to remember that we express it differently and in our own ways--even if it is imagining our professors in their underpants, giving something you took back, or being the hero of the day. Gaining our own experiences and definitions of courage will help us be able to express it and discover it in our everyday lives.

Courage in Many Ways

I sat down in the seat, and the bar came and strapped me down. “Maybe I shouldn't have done this,” I thought to myself. I had never been on a roller coaster before. The ride started. I was scared, it started going fast, then all of the sudden the roller coaster made a drop, then an even bigger drop. I loved it! At first, the roller coaster looked scary and I didn't want to ride it. I got the courage to go on it, and now I really like roller coasters, and scary rides. This is an example of showing courage by facing fears, but there are so many more types of courage, like standing up for oneself and others, or having no excuses.

Courage is facing fears. The example that I gave in my first paragraph is physically facing fears. Physically facing fears just means literally going through the fear. For instance, if someone was scared of heights and riding on airplanes but he went on a airplane despite his fear, then he would physically be facing his fear. Another way of facing fear is facing phobias. A phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of something. I have a phobia of tight spaces: Claustrophobia. When I was a little kid and we were playing hide and seek, there was a wooden chest that is big enough to fit someone inside, but it is a very tight space. And when I went inside it, I couldn't stay in for more than twenty seconds, because I was scared I would get stuck or suffocate or someone would sit on it and not let me out, and so on and so forth. That was how I figured out I was claustrophobic. Last Christmas I faced my fear. We got a new display case, shelf thingy and we were putting it together.  My dad was going to nail the back of it on and I chose, for some crazy reason, to lie down in a super tight space, under the shelf for more than fifteen minutes while the back was being nailed on. It was hard and scary, but I did face my fear.  The last way to face fears that I came up with is facing death. If someone knows that they could die, but they still are willing to be involved in the cause.  Examples are a soldier risking his life for our country, or a search and rescue team, or police and firemen.

Courage is standing up for yourself, beliefs, and other people. Standing up for personal beliefs could be standing up for a religion, like the Jewish boy who participated in a poetry slam, that stood up for his religious beliefs. I personally believe that swearing is not okay. One time when I was hanging out with some friends, someone came and started swearing.  I asked him to stop, and he did!  It took courage to say that to him. Standing up to bullies is also courage. If a friend is being picked on, then standing up to help them, (even if it means being picked on too) is courage.

Courage is having no excuses, like the excuse that you could get hurt. I liked the video when all of the people were moving the burning car so they could get out the guy under it, even though it could blow up and kill all of them. Like I said in the paragraph before this, the courage to stand up to bullies even if it means getting bullied. The excuse is that the person is scared because they might get bullied. Another excuse is not having enough time.  Either they are too busy to help or it would take too long or something like that.

Facing fears, standing up, and making no excuses are three of many types of courage. I want to have these types of courage in my life, because there are many times when courage is needed in our society. Without courage, many people would die or get hurt or not have a good life. I know that I have seen courage in my life, from my family or from peers.  People who show courage are heroes to me.

What Defines Courage

They say courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, But by those who fought fell and rose again. That success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. There is a lot more things that people think that defines courage and there are many people in the world that have courage.

        Linda looked down to the very bottom of the roller coaster, she closed her eyes and waited for the roller coaster to start rolling back down. The wheels of the roller coaster started roaring back down. She got redder by the second, she grabbed my arm and squeezed it. When the roller coaster stopped she loosened her grip on my arm, opened her eyes and said, “Was that it? I was expecting it to be worse.” She got off and got in line again . . . She is just one of the people in the world that have courage.

Courage is finding strength in yourself  to keep on going, finding strength so you don’t give up. If you can’t find strength in yourself, how are you going to keep on fighting for what you want? Like the girl that lost her leg because of the Boston Bombing, if she didn’t find strength in herself how would she live? She kept on fighting so she could get by so she found strength in herself and is doing well.

You may also need to find strength in yourself for everyday thing too. Like my mom had to stay strong, because when she found out that my little brother had be born early because he was not getting all the nutrients he needed, so when was born we had to lay him on some lights so he could get energy. None of us liked to see him on the lights, but when ever my mom saw him she would get even sadder than any of us, so she had to find strength in herself so she could stay strong and she did.

Or Pilot Chesley had to stay strong when he found out that the plane was going down, he had to stay calm and remember what he learned. He had to try to land the plane in the safest place; which at that time was the Hudson river, before he was going to try to land the plane in the Hudson river, through the microphone he told the people in the plane Brace for impact. Then he heard through the door as the flight attendant told them to do as so. He saved 52 people because he stayed strong and found strength in himself.   

Courage is making NO EXCUSES just say to yourself I am going to do this. Like Spencer West, a legless man who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at 5,895 meters high up making it the highest mountain in Africa. Even though he didn’t have legs he still climbed the mountain with his hands. Since he lost his legs when he was five caused by disorder he had. Two friends were by  his side the whole way there. He made it to the peak by walking with his hands. He made no excuses and climbed that mountain, he didn’t make the excuse of  I don’t have legs so I can’t climb a mountain. He made it by making no excuse it was probably hard at some times but he made it and that’s what counts.

Or in other cases of people that say that they can’t study because of the cause of money. Sometime it may happen but if you work hard enough you may even get a scholarship so that you don’t have to pay for school so don’t make any excuses and you’ll get there some day.

It takes courage to stand up to someone you know. But one day you may have to. Because they may be doing something that they think is a joke but it’s really hurting you or someone else. Like one day my brother had to stand up to my cousin because what she saw as a game was actually hurting me. My brother didn’t want to stand up to my cousin because she was younger than him and she was a girl. But one day it got to the point when I got home crying. Because she hit. My brother then forgot the excuses he was making and told my cousin to be nice, because I was younger than her. My cousin stopped and we got along better.

There is a lot of definitions of what defines courage one of them is FACING FEARS. Your fears don’t have to be the scariest to other people, but to you they are, so facing them still takes a lot of courage. Like me a couple of weeks ago, I was terrified of snakes, and when ever we would go to the school in Park view I would see a corn snake that the teacher had as a pet. The teacher said that if I wanted to get over my fear of snake I should go little by little until I can touch the snake with no problem. As the days passed I started getting closer to the snake and just a couple of weeks ago I touched the snake and know I’m not as scared as I used to be.

Other people are scared of heights I know  someone that would never want to get on any rides that went up in the air because she was scared of heights, she would always make up excuses of why she wouldn’t get on any of the rides. Until one day I asked her why.  She told me that she was afraid of heights, I told her that she should face her fears.  I finally convinced her to get on ride with. I told her that she had courage she laughed and said thank you for helping me face my fears.

Facing your fears takes courage. My moms friend told my mom that she is going to the hospital to check if she had breast cancer. And that my mom should come with her because she was scared. My mom told her that she not be afraid to go check her. mom said it would be worse to not go and check yourself and have it and get attended on time, than to not go and check herself and have it but let it get worse. My mom stayed on the phone and kept on trying to get her to calm down. In a couple of weeks they had to go to the appointment they made. As they walked in my mom said, it’s time to face your fears. When it was over we went and waited for them to call, when they called they said that she did not have breast cancer and that she would be fine.

As you can see courage doesn’t have just one definition. Kind of like you don't have just one personality. There is a lot of people that have faced their fears, found strength in themselves, made no excuses, and made it perfectly fine. It takes courage to face what you are afraid of. That’s is why it’s courageous to do it.