Live on Your Knees, or Die on Your Feet

Or...a treatise on not living your life scared.

How many famous quote are there about courage and fear? "You have nothing to fear but fear itself..." "Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyways..." "I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees..."

Having courage isn't just about being the hero, or standing up against immeasurable odds; it's about courage in daily life too. Courage is about standing up and giving a presentation in a language you haven't even spent a year studying, in a country you've only been in for a few months. Courage can be putting on a brave face, being support to your worried family, but being so afraid of the worse on the inside, that the only thing you want to do is run to the restroom and be sick. Courage is knowing what is right for your life, and not giving a fuck what other people think, because really, who are they to tell you how to live your life.

Courage is NOT knowing what to do all the time, but it is not succumbing to indecision and letting what others say dictate the direction you should take. Courage is NOT making a decision or taking an action unwaveringly. Sometimes, that results in reckless and wanton behavior; it takes courage to realize that maybe you are wrong, or need to reconsider- no one likes to admit that maybe they were wrong.

Fear is crippling. During those times of greatest fears, I have always found my friends and family to be of the greatest support, but when you really get down to it, the courage has to come from you. Your family will not always be there, and they certainly aren't always fully supportive (sometimes, they can even add stress), and your friends will move away. Ultimately, you have only yourself to be answerable to and for. Make waves. The revolution will not come, you have to BE the revolution.

Because of our fear of the opinions of others, we cripple our abilities and happiness in this life. After all, those who mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind. Courage happens in the smallest events in everyday life. We have gotten it in our heads that courage is only grand heroic schemes or going above the call of duty. It is needed everyday, because let's face it, without it, you live a scared life. Because, on one hand, you can live the pleasant life that society wants you, or you can live the life that makes changes, seeks to remedy the ills you see in the world, and fight the good fight, and I can tell you, it's a daily fight. And an uphill one at that.