Courage

Our kids  were watching  The Princess Diaries  the other day.  The following quote towards the end of the movie caught my attention: 

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.  The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all." 

The book upon which the movie is based was written by Meg Cabot.

Hmmm.  No doubt this grabbed my attention because I am the definition of cautious.  "Ouch", my sensitive nature said to itself.  But this is not news to me.  I am self-aware enough to know this to be fact.

The problem is that it is difficult to live outside of your nature.  My first instinct, in just about every situation, is to be cautious.  Then, once I have the time to look at the situation with some clarity, I can attempt to gain control of the fear which sparked the cautiousness in the first place.  It is all very analytical, isn't it?

So the question is... How do people act out "courage".  Is it through such an analytical process?  Is it a decision to put fear aside because "something else is more important"?

Perhaps that happens at times - that courage is a decision made in opposition to some other emotion.

On the other hand, I suspect courage is sometimes an innate response in some people.  They don't go through an analytical process and decide they will be courageous.  The just do it.

That is the kind of courageous I want to be.  But I'm not.  And that's why I put my faith in Someone who IS that kind of person.  And out of that relationship, I believe that when the time calls for me to have courage, I He will.