Three Rules for Developing Courage

Here is a good article on the three rules for developing courage. It is from a blog of a local doctor whose blog I read regularly: Dr. Mercola. The article is written by Brian Tracy. In short. the three rules are:
1. Everyone is Afraid.
2. Fear is diminished as you confront it. The more you confront your fears, the less fear you have.
3. Do the things you fear and death of fear is certain.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/01/02/courage.aspx

So, what does that have to do with my blog? Well, its about courage. Self responsibility is a Joshua Project charter, and many of us growing up remember how peer pressure sometimes made us do things we did not otherwise want to do. Peer pressure can be a powerful force to be reckoned with. Doing the right thing when the rest of your friends are doing something different takes courage. Theodore H. White once said: To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.

Here is a cool quote from Maya Angelou:
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

This is one of my favorite quotes about courage. It hangs in my office. It's by Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

We all need to continue to teach these virtues to our kids. Its about teaching them to do the right thing in the face of everyone else doing something different. Or to continue on a path that no one else understands, and to continue on that path despite what anyone says. We must have them understand the fear they may feel when they "stand up" for what they believe in, and that at times, it will be difficult, but that doing so builds true character.