English Essays on Definition or Resemblance Argument
Courage is defined as the willingness or ability to face what frightens you such as pain, agony, intimidation, uncertainty, grief or danger. Courage depends on a person’s choice or ability to face difficulties that would not be easy to face for many people. It can be described as the state of mind that enables one to face fear or danger. Courage is divided into three; emotional and physical courage (Scarre 46). Emotional courage refers to the ability to do something or a task even when you are afraid of doing it. Physical courage is ability to face death, hardship or pain while moral courage is the ability to do what is right no matter the consequences.
Courageous acts involve actions that express courage (Hannah, Sweeney and Lester 132). Courageous acts all fall into the three categories of courage as discussed above. Courageous acts cannot be compared because they are all the same in their own ways. Battling cancer is a courageous act; it takes courage to be able to remain positive even when you know that your chances of surviving are minimal. One has to attend medical checkups and follow all the prescriptions of the doctor. It means that one must be strong emotionally and this is an act of courage. The same applies to courageous that a person shows in his struggle to become a doctor.
Raising a mentally challenged child and striving to become an Olympian are all acts of courage. It is said that courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to conquer any fear that one faces. The action that comes after one has conquered the fear is what is known as the courageous act. Hence, it is correct to say that courageous act is resembles courage because they are the results of courage conquering fear.
There are a number of various activities that can be grouped under courageous acts (Ramage, Bean and Johnson par 3). An example of a courageous act is the ability to apologize when you are wrong. This is act requires courage and could prove to be difficult to many people. The ability to swallow pride and apologize for doing something to someone is regarded as courageous act. The world has reached the age of self-discovery and self-knowledge where recognizing own mistake is very important. It might be easy to assume that nothing is wrong, even cowards can do that, but when courage is stronger than the fear of others seeing you as being vulnerable, it is easy to apologize and that is an act of courage.
Another courageous act is being you and not copying others. People are afraid of exposing their weaknesses to others. The fear to show others your imperfections could make one to imitate others and live a live that is not theirs. Everybody is unique and when one stops himself from shining then he is denying the world the chance of seeing a very beautiful gift. Courage allows one to conquer the fear of his imperfections and learns to appreciate the perfection in his imperfection. In a world full of lies, people find it easy to go with the flow and imitate what others are doing. They are either afraid of the humiliation or the rejection that might come when they choose to be themselves. Those who fear being judged by their friends.
Taking responsibility for one’s own action is courageous act. The choices people make lead them to where they are in life in the present time. When these choices seem to produce wrong results then they must be changed. The act of spending more than what one earns would lead them into debts. If he wants to change then he must decide to spend less than he earns. Being responsible would give the person more freedom to do other things. The ability to recognize a mistake and to change is not an easy task and it requires courage to get out of dangerous habits. Being responsible has been stressful to many people who like messing around without thinking of the possible consequences of their actions.
Keeping commitments can be grouped as a courageous act. Commitment binds people emotionally or intellectually to what they have promised to do. One must find courage to fulfill all the promises he committed himself to accomplish. When achieving the commitments require adjustments then the person who committed himself should express these changes to the people he made promise to and the recommit himself. The strength of heart and mind to fulfill the commitments is all about courage. Fear and guilt should not dissuade a person from fulfilling his commitments.
One should learn, make decision then act in line to deliver what he had promised. It is a courageous act to find means and ways of upholding your commitments and when necessary, forgive yourself for making alterations to the earlier commitments. How one fulfill the commitments he made is of much importance. The difficulties that fraught commitment keeping makes it very difficult and requires courage on the part of the individual. Commitment in a relationship requires more courage than others may think. Some people fear to commit because they look for perfection in the imperfect world.
The future is full of uncertainty and things do not always happen as one might wish them to happen but when one accept the fact that these are things beyond human control, and then they will find the courage to commit. No relationship lasts without genuine commitment from the partners. It demands for courage to act when faced with uncertainty. Confronting the uncertainty and committing yourself is considered as a courageous act. Only the brave would stick by their word and ensure that they deliver as they promise and hence commitment making and keeping is a courageous act.
Many situations in life may force a person to keep silent and never say what he thinks or feels like saying. To speak you mind and express your feelings lead to a fuller life and make one more authentic. Suppressing true feelings daily makes one to lose touch of they really are and what their true feelings are. Confidence builds up as a person negotiate through daily disagreements and coming up with common ground that favors all parties involved. When a person fails to express his displeasure on some decisions made then he gradually builds fear and anxiety within him. It reaches a point where he cannot face people to say what he really want and would just go with whatever others have decided on even if it ends up hurting him. It is important to find the courage to share your feelings as this is considered an act of courage.
Another courageous act worth mentioning is letting go of the past. When one has learned to stop wallowing on what he could have done differently to be in a better place in the present day then he is courageous (Ramage, Bean and Johnson par 5). Whatever happened in the past, one should forgive himself and the people involved. The past is dead unless it is kept alive in the mind. The past helps a person to know better and do things much better and moving on takes courage. The past can either make you or ruin you. When you concentrate so much on the past bad experiences then it would ruin you. It may be difficult to let go of the past and the fear it generates on people. It is advisable that people get over bad things in their lives and embrace the beauty of today and the promises of tomorrow.
As earlier mentioned, courage is the ability to do what is not easily done by anyone. Going an extra mile at work place or at home to help people around you is considered a courageous act. Take time to surprise a person with something good, hold door open for others to pass among other things. Never hold any grudge against anybody and when you visit a restaurant, please do leave the waiter with a big tip. This is going the extra mile where others cannot reach. Help people around you believe that for sure, there is still a generous world out there. It is said that there are no traffic jam on extra mile. Those who decide to go extra miles in their endeavors will always find they alone and never expect company to do things that you believe you should do or put more effort to make someone’s life less stressful.
Works Cited
Hannah, Sean T., Sweeney, Patrick J. and Lester, Paul B. “Toward a courageous mindset: The subjective act and experience of courage.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 2.2 (2007): 129-135.Print
Ramage, John D., Bean, John C. and Johnson, June. Writing arguments: A rhetoric with readings. Pearson, 2015. Print
Scarre, Geoffrey. On Courage. Madison Avenue: New York: Routledge, 2010. Print. Pp. 1-153.