The Unknown

We are born into a world of unknowns.  Everything new we encounter has to be faced with courage...courage, the ability to confront fear in the face of pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.  It manifests itself when we are learning to walk, when we separate from mom and dad for the first time, when we venture out into the world of other children and learn to dance or sing or hit a t-ball.

As we get older we learn that courage is here to stay and always in need...starting a new job or moving to a new city, having a child and trying to breastfeed, deciding to step into a classroom to yet again expand our brain.  For those that live in the extremes, courage appears when we are in a gun battle or skiing down the side of a mountain  Courage is with us always, pushing us forward to face our fears.  

At times, we need courage for things we never thought we would.  Having a sick child takes the breath out of you.  A dark alley awaits you and your child is safely at the end waiting for you to be brave, to tell them that everything is going to be okay.  The cowardly lion was in search of courage, but as it turned out he had it all along, just as everyone does.

Mark Twain said "courage is not the absence of fear.  It is acting in spite of it."  Cancer brings out that fear...the fear of the unknown shoots up and courage has to kick into overdrive...

and we move onward...