Generally speaking, courage is not about being fearless,
but rather about triumphing despite being afraid. For instance, one of the most
common displays of courage is when someone chooses to act despite the fact that s/he feels a particular fear regarding the task that’s awaiting in front of her/him.
In life, showing courage doesn’t always have to be revealed through extreme
situations…from time to time, it’s revealed even in some mundane choices people
have to make….as simple as that. Courage does not always roar; sometimes it is
that quiet voice you hear (at the end of
a long day) whispering to your heart and mind: “Try again tomorrow.” Many times it has been noticed that in order to reach the next peak or the next
destination point of the route, you need to double your courage with the
willingness to put in a bit more effort – yes, that little effort combined with
a little courage could get you out of the crowds and let you join the handful of
people the world calls lucky.
In closing of my brief remarks here, below I’m sharing 2 short stories
featuring courage, hoping that this light reading would expand perspectives.
Enjoy!Short story: The tale of a butterfly
A
little boy was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He
carefully picked it up and took it home to show his mother. He asked his mother
if he could keep it, and she said he could if he would take good care of it.
The
little boy got a large jar from his mother and put plants to eat, and a stick
to climb on, in the jar. Every day he watched the caterpillar and brought it
new plants to eat.
One day the caterpillar climbed
up the stick & started acting strangely. The boy worriedly called his mother
who came and understood that the caterpillar was creating a cocoon. The mother
explained him how the caterpillar was going to go through a
metamorphosis & become a butterfly.
The little boy was thrilled to
hear about the changes his caterpillar would go through. He watched every day,
waiting for the butterfly to emerge. One day it happened, a small hole appeared
in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out.
At first the boy was excited, but
soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It
looked like it couldn't break free! It looked desperate! It looked like it was
making no progress! The boy was so concerned he
decided to help. He ran to get scissors, got it and and then came back. He
snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged! As the butterfly came out the boy
was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued
to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out,
enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body
would shrink and the butterfly's wings would expand. But neither happened! The butterfly spent the rest of
its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never
could fly…
What the boy in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the
restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through
the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the
butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved
its freedom from the cocoon.
Moral: Sometimes struggles are exactly
what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without
any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could
have been.
It takes courage, patience and discipline to grow up and become
who you are meant to be.
Short story: When the river meets the sea
“FEAR” (by Khalil Gibran) – “It is said that before entering the sea, a river trembles with fear.
The river looks back at the path that has been travelled, from the peaks of the mountains, the long winding road crossing forests and villages. And in front, is the vast ocean – so vast, that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever. But there is no other way.
The river cannot go back. Nobody can go back. To go back it is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean - only then will fear disappear, because that's where the river will know it's not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean. "
“The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage.” (Thucydides)
