Previously, we wrote about the function of fear as an emotion that people in power often attempt to manipulate. This week, we are looking at Fear’s antithesis: Courage.
Mustering the courage to face a fear can feel liberating and empowering. Many times, admitting to a fear is to face our vulnerabilities which can be a scary thing to do in a culture of perfectionism. We have many fears of things going wrong, and sometimes it is paralysing. Let us examine how courage serves us in beneficial ways, and how there is a fine line between being brave and being reckless.
Courage is needed to live a good life
It is inevitable that in life we will face challenges and make mistakes. Facing those periods where we feel vulnerable can be tough. If a person does not have the mental resilience to rough it out, acknowledge the pain, and work through it to emerge whole again, it can be detrimental to his ability to function as a whole. This process of gathering that courage to face one’s vulnerability has been researched by Brené Brown in her social research on what people who rise up from their struggles do in their “facedown” moments. Bravery is needed to get oneself out of the rut, and thrive in the thick of challenges.
Being courageous is also about taking calculated risks to derive gains. There could be physical, social, or financial risks in the actions that we consider to take. However, if everyone holds back because no one dares to do anything, there would be little opportunity to make good things happen. Examples of the range of activities that require courage for beneficial returns are entrepreneurship, financial investments, taking on a new job overseas, making new friends, etc. Every step entails imperfect information on how things may turn out, but there are potential to gain a lot more in terms of life’s experiences and even wealth.
When does courage turn into recklessness?
Yet, taking bravery to an extreme could be reckless. When we do not consider the consequences of our actions that may put ourselves or others’ in harm’s way – knowing that it is highly probable yet doing it anyway – that is recklessness. The adventurer Bear Grylls who pits himself against nature, engages in dangerous stunts to survive expeditions, calls his own actions recklessness. It is an unique trait that earned him fans, but at some point he would have to consider being less reckless for the sake of his family. However, his expeditions are also admired by many, and it could be an inspiration for them to be courageous in different aspects of their lives.
American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, once said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’”
Questions for further personal evaluation:
- In what instances do you find difficult it to be brave? What is stopping you from being brave?
- What are some examples where courage becomes recklessness?
Useful vocabulary:
- ‘dogmatic’: inclined to lay down principles as undeniably true
- ‘dichotomies’: a division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different
- ‘trope’: a significant or recurrent theme; a motif
Here are more related articles for further reading:
- New Scientist: Being brave and being reckless may have to do with how our brains are wired to perceive danger
““It really has to do with the reckless and the brave,” says Bruce McEwen at Rockefeller University, New York, who wasn’t involved with the work. The brave feel fear but are able to overcome it, whereas the reckless seem to have a brain that doesn’t react as it should to alert them to danger, he says.
Being able to tell the brave and the reckless apart is important in fields like the military, says Mujica-Parodi. A healthy amount of fear is necessary; those who have none may put their own lives at risk as well as the lives of others around them.”
- Forbes: An interview with a life coach on how courage can be cultivated as a habit
“Understanding where fear has become a pattern so that you can interrupt the pattern and stop it from stopping you is more effective. The primary ways that I see fear showing up in our lives in terms of behavioral patterns are through perfectionism, people-pleasing, self-sabotage and pessimism. The first step to take is to get clear on what those fear patterns look like so that you can interrupt them when they arise.”