Today’s Wednesday Word is a challenging one: courage.
The first thing that I think of when I think of “courage” is the Cowardly Lion as played by Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz was one of my favorite movies as a child, and I played the Cowardly Lion in an elementary school play. I can still sing most of “If I were king of the forrrrest …..”
One lesson of The Wizard of Oz is that the Cowardly Lion already had the courage he was hoping the Wizard would bestow on him. While his first response to most new situation was fear, he demonstrated courage when his friends were in danger.
Maybe that’s why when I think of courage, I think of standing up for others, or at least standing up for what’s right–doing the right thing even when it’s not the easy thing.
As a child, being courageous meant being kind to the kid that others were picking on, or making friends with the new kid.
As a teenager, being courageous meant resisting peer pressure, or risking getting in trouble to be a friend to a friend in need.
As a young adult, being courageous meant making life choices that reflected my values.
As a parent of young children, being courageous meant being that mom who asked the daycare about smoke detectors, who grilled the sleep-over host about guns in the house, and who called to make sure that the parents really would be there.
As a parent of young adults, being courageous means asking questions when I’d rather not know, speaking up when it would be easier to say nothing, and biting my tongue when I’d rather lecture.
[Tweet “The Life Stages Of Courage”]
Visit Deb’s link up to see what others think about courage.
What does courage mean to you?
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(((love this. I am that mom so far. I was that child for sure. <3 <3 <3)))
Nice post! Courage to me is being yourself whom ever that may be. See you Saturday
It does take courage to be courageous!
Ooh – biting your tongue when you’d rather lecture – that’s one that I’ve been learning. I had the gun talk with one mom when my oldest had her first sleepover in 1st grade… hardest conversation. That same mom is still one of my closest friends… glad I found the courage.
I definitely was that mom and now I try to have courage as an older runner. Most of all I want women to have courage because it seems pretty much natural for most of the men I know.
As a parent of teen boys, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to speak up and say whatever uncomfortable thing needs to be said. It’s better to “keep it real” than left it unsaid.
I love your take on courage — and how it’s often in doing what no one (else) wants to do.
So true that the meaning of courage changes as we age!
I think courage is being OK with being ourselves instead of conforming.
I love this! Great post. I agree that courage varies based on what stage you are in and there are so many different moments that require courage. All of them just need a deep breath and a leap of faith. 🙂
I love your life stages of courage, and I’ve “been there and done that” through all of those stages. Can you believe that I never saw the Wizard of Oz as a kid? I just wasn’t interested. When my husband and I got invited to go see Wicked, my friends made me watch it before I saw the play!
Thank you for linking up!
love this Coco! I am that Mom, always asking questions and always verifying. My son learned quickly that there isn’t a pool hall or bar to scary looking for me to stop, walk in and say Hi if I saw his vehicle. 🙂 That is the way I roll!
I’m impressed with the tenacity of your daycare evaluation. Specifically your awareness of smoke detectors. I recently posted an article regarding the lifespan of your smoke detector which unfortunately Commentluv will not highlight. Anyone can benefit from the information contained therein.
Lovely post! I love how you put it in a timeline. It shows how we mature over time and how our outlook differs. Reminds me of wanting to go back in time and tell myself not to do all the dumb things I did then.