Courage is the mental and emotional preparedness and ability to deal with difficult, challenging, and sometimes seemingly impossible circumstances. It is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, intimidation and other threats. Life shrinks and expands in proportion to one's courage. Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence. Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress. It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else. Sometimes even to live is an act of courage. It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.
