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Courage

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Courage and wisdom; two extremely valuable and noble traits.

Each of these terms come with a certain amount of loose interpretation. For the sake of this essay I interpret courage as the ability to act from the heart without fear, insecurities or defenses. I take wisdom to mean having knowledge, book smarts, intelligence.

If I was faced with having to choose one or the other, I'd choose courage.

Humans are herd animals, if you will, with a seemingly innate desire to "fit in". If our neighbors are buying octagon houses and wearing red boa scarves, despite our initial and true preferences, we begin to desire the octagon houses and red boa scarves. We want to be accepted and loved, admired and adored, even by strangers and those whose opinions should not matter. It takes courage to buy the square house and wear a striped knit scarf, if that's what you truly prefer. But when you have the courage to follow your heart rather than settle for what everybody else is doing, it is only then that you will know what real freedom and happiness is. It is only then that your eyes can open wide enough to be able to see all of life around you rather then the narrow way outlined for you by others.

With wisdom alone you may know how the world around you ticks, but without courage you will never fully experience the wondrous joys that it offers. You may know how the mountains came to be, but without courage you cannot climb those mountains and explore the beauty that lies in reaching the top.

With wisdom you may know how to build buildings, computers and even fortunes. Without courage however, you will not know how to build healthy relationships, loving families or loving friendships.

See, you can have brains, but that alone can leave you lonely and empty without the courage to truly reach your full potential and to take chances on enjoying life. It takes courage to lay down goals and to push through adversities to reach them. It takes courage to speak your mind and open your heart. It takes courage to face problems that arise in this imperfect world and to overcome them. It takes courage to be honest, just and fair.

Being intelligent may earn you accolades, but will not earn you true respect. Being intelligent can earn you a fat bank account, but money will never buy the freedom and happiness of being brave enough to face criticism and failure. With courage you can accept your mistakes and fix them, you can recognize your weaknesses and strengthen them. You can admit to your shortcomings and have the confidence it takes to "do the right thing", even if it goes against the crowds of "followers".

Brains doesn't make you a better person, but courage can.

Learn more about this author, Kelly Mastanduno.
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