I think courage is usually taught, or at least learned. I think there is some conscious thought involved in it. When Blast teaches his daughters to speak to adults, he is creating the strength for them to say 'No!' when necessary, because doing so will be within their do-able zone, if not their comfort zone.

I get the feeling that Blast's daughters are allowed to make mistakes. Many parents don't know how important that is. All of us have learned more from our mistakes than from our successes, but kids frequently aren't ALLOWED to make mistakes. They have the feeling that they must be perfect, must always make the right decisions, do the proper thing. With teaching like that, it is easier for the child or adult to simply do nothing. They often KNOW what they should do, but after years of conditioning, CAN'T do it.

Courage is knowing what has to be done and then doing it. The knowing is probably fairly common, but going against popular opinion can be a hard thing to do. Without practice, most people can't do it.

It's like starting a fire with a flint and steel. You know the theory, but without pracice, you could end up freezing to death.

Dweste, you say you think courage is a survival skill. Even more than a life-survival skill, it is an emotional survival skill. Pared down to bare essentials, you have to stand up for what you know is right. And that takes more courage to do it than to just think about it.

Sherry, please.

Sue