Courage, as others said, I think is something you dont think of at the time; when I think of people with personal courage, I tend to think of people who beat odds-things they cannot prepare for. Ones who make decisions, when either could be disastrous. The guy who cut his arm off, when it was pinned by a boulder. People who run into a burning building to save someone. Kids who stand up for themselves. Folks who face adversity, whether it be medical, financial, personal, whatever, with grim determination. I dont think these can be taught, per se; people either rise to the occasion, or not.
JEff, I agree with allowing them to have heroes-to a point. I think these day the word "hero" is thrown around too much. I cant really say that athletes, musicians, and most famous people are "heroes"-sure, they do good things, but that doesnt make them heroes. Their position in life ALLOWS them to do those things. We need to start steering away from hero worship to the wrong people. We need to identify TRUE heros-everyday people who, when faced with extraordinary circumstances, rose to the occasion. Put aside their own fears, wants, worries, and pain, and helped a fellow human being. These are the people we need to elevate to hero status. Not someone who makes tons of money, and donates to a cause. Thats not heroic-thats helping out the less fortunate.

I just reread this, and I DONT want you to take it the wrong way. I agree with you, I just want people to select heroes for the right reasons. In most greek tragedies, the hero died for the greater good-somewhere along the way, the self-sacrificing part (not necessarily dying though) got lost in the translation.
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