A Soft Breath of Courage

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

~ Winston S. Churchill

What does this seagull have to do with this post? Absolutely nothing.

That aside, I've been thinking about courage a lot lately.  What does it mean to have courage?   To be courageous and brave?

Recently I listened to a Hidden Brain podcast entitled: "What Can a Personality Test Tell Us About Who We Are?"  Very fascinating listen.  It starts out talking about Hogwart houses and sorting, then goes into Myers Briggs, Chinese Zodiac, and other types of personality profiles.

I still stand by the fact that at age 11 I would no doubt be sorted a Gryffindor, for reasons and stories I'll never get into.  But lately I've been wondering about my bravery. I don't feel as brave as I use to be.  Far from it.  And, side note, in terms of Myers Briggs, MBTI, it's greatly flawed.  Lots of fun and a little amusing, but far from perfect.  It's sad how much stock people put into it.  In terms of that I'm a "core" INFJ, but I have INTJ and INFP in me as well depending on my mood, circumstance, etc, and will go between the three.  It doesn't mean I'm shifty, just a complex human being.

Got off track.  Back to thinking about courage and bravery.

I want to be brave, and for me, right now, my bravery seems small, not loud and boisterous.  It's me facing my fears, doing things I'm afraid I can't do.  My brothers want me to try composing an 8-bit style song for a game, and my first thought is, "I can't do it!"  My goodness, not that I don't want to do it, I do, but a fear that it can't be done.  My bravery is ignoring that voice in the back of my mind telling me I can't, proving the silent criticism wrong.

And in regards to that Seagull:

Seagulls can be courageous, too, when they're facing death to get a fry.