When I was younger, I was told I had a lot of courage. I was told this because I sat at lunch with the new kid who didn’t know anyone. When I saw this kid sitting alone, I thought to myself, “Imagine if this was you. How would you feel?” I now ask myself this all of the time before I act and this has even helped me through life for all of my sixteen years so far. One of the best feelings in the world is when you can help someone out and they appreciate it.
O’Brien defines courage as, “Comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be drawn down.” He defines courage this way because he has had waves of encouragement and motivation, also I think that he has been through a lot of tough times and he has a lot of experience of expressing courage.
I would define courage as doing something that other people don’t have the “balls” to do. For example, it takes courage to confront people about a situation that they feel strongly about. It also takes courage to go and chase your dreams and take a risky route, whereas people that don’t have as much courage will take the safe route with a safer, less risk, job. I define courage this way because I’ve been through times where I needed motivation and encouragement and when I was in this time I went to my parents and they suggested another perspective. They said that I should think more about what would I do if someone I look up to was watching me, and to do that every single time, even when you know no one is watching.
The overall meaning of courage is truly subjective and it has many definitions. The way that I define it and the way you define it can be very different. In the video above, it shows that kids can stand up for one another and express courage that way. When I hear O’Brien’s perspective of courage, I changed my definition a little. I now define it as, one who can do things that others are scared or frightened to do in order to achieve a greater goal. In other words, someone who can do the things that others don’t to achieve their goals and dreams. We as a population need more courage. One of the things that can be added to your daily life to have more courage is to do something just because it’s right, not because someone is watching you or observing you. Another thing that you can do is do more studying or chasing your dream instead of going to a party or a social event just because you will be called weird or a loser. I have learned some things about courage throughout reading O’Brien’s definition and my own experiences and one of the biggest and most important things is that you should always do what you feel is right, not because someone is watching or observing you.