Earning Courage
“Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.” ~ Malcolm Gladwell
This year, people all throughout the world faced an unfathomable reality and insurmountable odds. People had to say goodbye to loved ones, way too soon. Others encountered unexpected life changes brought on by a global pandemic. Sometimes the environment we find ourselves in can threaten to overwhelm us. However, despite these difficulties, we find ways to maneuver through the obstacles and come out on the other side a stronger version of ourselves. If we are lucky, we have friends and family who provide support and encouragement. Ultimately, we need to realize that through the challenges, we are faced with two options. We can face them with determination or succumb to defeat.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, he describes individuals who overcame hardships and refused to accept defeat. They found a way to use their disadvantages and circumstances to change their life path. They ignored societal norms and peoples’ disapproval. George Bernard Shaw said, “the reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Gladwell describes unreasonable individuals who not only changed their lives, but impacted the lives of those around them. One increased the odds for children diagnosed with leukemia. Another fought against discrimination with Martin Luther King, Jr. And yet another, changed the lives of those who lived in New York’s Brownsville projects. Like these individuals, we have seen strength of character from frontline workers working tirelessly to provide comfort, researchers devoting themselves to develop a vaccine, and volunteers delivering food for their neighbors. These people who choose to live unreasonably and refuse to adapt themselves to the world we currently find ourselves in.
It is difficult to see the forest when you are surrounded by the trees, but in the end, we can be thankful because all the trials we face develop our strengths, all the disappointments nurture our optimism, and all the lessons guide our future. The decision that remains is how to use our experiences to give back and make life a little better for those still waiting to earn their courage.
This Thanksgiving, as we gather around the table that is likely not surrounded with as many family and friends as we had hoped, remember to reflect and be thankful for the obstacles, challenges, and unexpected circumstances we face. While incredibly painful at times, they make us the people we are today “because the act of facing overwhelming odds, produces greatness and beauty.”
To all the people we have been fortunate enough to have in our lives and to those who remain with us in spirit, thank you.
