I'm not sure what possesses us to act contrary to our personality, but I'm pretty sure in most cases it can be attributed to fear-driven, snap decisions.
Fear.
Of being alone. Of change. Of the unknown future. Of not knowing ourselves.
So we get defensive. Turn into animals, ignoring reason. Fleeing any uncomfortable situation or fighting against any change in a pitiful attempt at self preservation. Fooling ourselves into thinking we can somehow remain the same-that it is better to stay remain same.
Bravery. Courage.
Is thinking ahead. Is self-awareness. Is knowing our weaknesses. Is strategy.
If the only way to combat this fear filled state of nature is to use reason and logic to think larger than ourselves, then we must. We must be aware of ourselves enough to understand how and why we will react to certain situations and strategize against our instinct.
Bravery, courage is knowing what we truly fear, and not letting that fear reduce us to instinct.
love love love.
2 comments:
you linked to your blog on your facebook, so i figured I'd comment and say, "heeeeeeeeey jess!" :-)
Sometimes logic prevents people from being courageous. They logicize their way out of risk.
My favorite definition of courage ever is G.K. Chesterton... "courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live paired with a strange carelessness about dying. A sailor, cut off by sea, if he is to save his life, must risk himself on the precipice. A soldier, surrounded by enemies must not merely cling to life, for then he would be a suicide and a coward. He must embrace his life with a spirit of furious indifference to it. He must desire life like water, yet drink death like wine."
However... in order to truly engage the issues and problems of our time, we must have the courage to relentlessly seek knowledge and be extremely intelligent about our risks.
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