I think it may be hard to pin down courage as being a particular thing, due to our different experiences, values and perceptions. Courage like compassion, empathy, selflessness, self-sacrifice, is an attribute that we seek to develop and practice. We seek to encourage this characteristic in our children, but we cannot make them courageous any more than we make them compassionate. We can guide them, we can become and provide them with role models, but ultimately courage comes from one’s inner being.

For me, courage has an important difference than many other attributes, in that courage comes to us or perhaps more correctly the situation with which we have the potential to demonstrate courage is not of our making. We can take positive actions on our terms to be charitable, thoughtful, respectful, but with true courage the situation comes to us, in ways and times we have little, if no control over and it is up to us to respond in courageous manner.

Pete