Dear Destiny Friends,
We are all familiar with the word “courage”, but sometimes we don’t know what it entails. Courage is truly a mystery because when a courageous mind begins to act, a narrow mind without understanding will find it hard to comprehend what’s happening.
There’s no positive achievement without courage. We need courage to drive, start a business, start a relationship/marriage, embark on a trip by plane/boat, contest for election, pray, etc. Without courage, it will be hard for one to succeed in life, because there will be distractions along the way.
To understand how courage works, imagine the fight between David and Goliath in the Bible, David was a little man while Goliath was described as a giant. Ordinarily, David is not a match to Goliath, but David has uncommon courage to fight Goliath, and he was able to defeat Goliath.
As human beings, it would be foolhardy to say, we don’t have fear in us, we all experience one form of fear in us, the only difference is how we manage it. The fear of the unknown is the worst kind of fear. For example, imagine a man/lady who wants to get married to his/her lover, so many thoughts will be running in the mind of the person because no one knows what the future will unfold. In the same way, a lady who is madly in love with a man has uncommon courage because most people won’t understand the feeling behind the act.
It’s instructive to note it takes courage to do a business, it takes courage to love, it takes courage to steal/kill, it takes courage to serve or believe in God. Do you know that it is what you believe that will work for you. For instance, if a prayer is offered to you by a renowned man of God, if you don’t have faith it won’t work for you, but if you have faith in fetish idol, it will work for you. This is because the human mind is so powerful that it can dare to succeed in addition to doing the unimaginable.
That is why sometimes you imagine someone doing the exact opposite of your thought towards them. That’s why it’s not nice to underrate someone. They might surprise you when you least expect it.
Courage goes with belief. If you don’t have courage, there’s little you can achieve in life. In the journey towards life, a creative and progressive mind must dare to succeed, and to do that entails exercising courage.
I can vividly remember my first electoral victory in my hometown, I contested against a formidable force that is capable of whipping me like a toy. The election can be described like David and Goliath. In all honesty and sincerity, I was humbled by my victory. That victory exposed me to the leaders in the community, local and State level. Till date, I still enjoy the goodwill.
Again, when I immigrated to United States of America, I contested for the post of the Public Relations Officer for the Nigerian Lawyers Association, in all honesty, I didn’t have what it takes to run for the office, I just felt since I have been able to lead my contemporaries students in my university and community, I felt I can achieve similar feat in USA, not knowing it’s a different system.
The most challenging part was that I was still in Law School and my command of English especially as it relates to writing wasn’t great. The truth is that despite winning the election because no attorney contested for the position, I had to learn on the job.
To be honest, in retrospect, I’m glad I took the bold step because the post connected and exposed me to a lot of people globally. One of the memorable experiences was when a memo was sent from the officer of then Governor of New York to meet with the bar leaders. Imagine, if I didn’t contest for the election, I wouldn’t have met the high and mighty in the society which I’m still benefiting from till date.
The moral of this message is that one needs courage to do the needful. People may not see it and that’s okay. They don’t need to see it. If they are supposed to see it, God would have revealed it to them. When taking courage, if you fail, see it as an experience, and if you succeed, see it as an opportunity.
According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, “your greatest challenge is the conquest of fear and the development of courage. Since anything you practice over and over eventually becomes a habit, you will develop courage by acting courageously anytime courage is called for. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear. It is the mastery of fear. A courageous person goes forward in spite of fear”
The opposite of fear is courage. According to a philosopher, “laziness kills ambition; anger kills wisdom; fears kill dreams; ego kills growth; jealousy kills peace; doubt kills confidence” and I add, fear kills courage. Now read it from right to left.
To develop courage, you must be intentional and deliberate in practicing habits that will make you an expert in the field. When you become familiar with doing a particular thing, fear eliminates your mind.
In conclusion, be courageous to send that email, be courageous to ask that question, be courageous to send that text message, be courageous to start that business, be courageous to start that project, be courageous to ask that lady/guy out, dare the consequences, you never know what that risky and courageous act can unveil.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
