Daniel's notes on Courage Is Calling

Aristotle described virtue as a kind of craft, something to pursue just as one pursues the mastery of any profession or skill. "We become builders by building and we become harpists by playing the harp," he writes. "Similarly, then, we become just by doing just actions, temperate by doing temperate actions, brave by doing brave actions."

Virtue is something we do. It's something we choose. Not once, for Hercules's crossroads was not a singular event. It's a daily challenge, one we face not once but constantly, repeatedly. Will we be selfish or selfless? Brave or afraid? Strong or weak? Wise or stupid? Will we cultivate a good habit or a bad one? Courage or cowardice? The bliss of ignorance or the challenge of a new idea? Stay the same ... or grow? The easy way or the right way?

There aren't two kinds of courage. There is only one. The kind where you put your ass on the line. In some cases literally, perhaps fatally. In other cases it's figurative, or financial. Courage is risk. It is sacrifice ... ... commitment ・・・perseverance ... truth …determination. When you do the thing others cannot or will not do. When you do the thing that people think you shouldn't or can't do. Otherwise it's not courage. You have to be braving something or someone.

"To each," Winston Churchill would say, "there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."

History is written with blood, sweat, and tears, and it is etched into eternity by the quiet endurance of courageous people. People who stood up (or sat down) ... People who fought ... People who risked ... People who spoke ... People who tried ... People who conquered their fears, who acted with courage, and, in some cases, briefly achieved that higher plane of existence—they entered the hall of heroes as peers and equals.

First, we are called to rise above our fear and cowardice. Next, we are called to bravery, over the elements, over the odds, over our limitations. Finally, we are called to heroism, perhaps for only just a single magnificent moment, when we are called to do something for someone other than ourselves. Whatever call you're hearing right now, what matters is that you answer. What matters is that you go to it.

“Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid”. It's an essential distinction. A scare is a temporary rush of a feeling. That can be forgiven. Fear is a state of being, and to allow it to rule is a disgrace. One helps you —makes you alert, wakes you up, informs you of danger. The other drags you down, weakens you, even paralyzes you.

Vague fear is sufficient to deter us; the more it is explored, the less power it has over us. Which is why we must attack these faulty premises and root them out like the cancers they are. We were afraid because we didn't know. We were vulnerable because we didn't know.