Defining Courage

Illustrator W.W. Denslow's "Courage"
from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The first time I saw courage, it was attached to a lion. Not a real lion, but one I think you'll recognize.

The lion, who you might know from the movie The Wizard of Oz, looked brave, even ferocious, but wait. Is that a tear falling from his eye? Turns out, the cowardly lion's feelings are hurt because a young girl named Dorothy smacked his nose when the lion tried to scare her little dog, Toto. Poor lion. He can't even scare a little dog. What happened to his courage?

You probably know the rest of the story, that in the end the lion discovers his courage was with him the whole time. He just didn't know how to use it. Yet.

But what is courage, really?

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines courage this way: "The ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous." Then they elaborate with, "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty."

Sometimes society applies the label "courageous" where it ought not be applied, but mostly, I think, we don't use the term often enough. Here at "The Courage Shop" our goal is to broach the subject often. We think courage goes unrecognized much of the time, so we're taking it upon ourselves to recognize it, and talk about it, as often as possible.

Be courageous. Follow us and see where we go from here.