Courage in the Face of Difficulty

We all have a predefined notion of what courage is, whether it be facing our fears, standing up for a personal belief, or sticking up for another person who may be getting picked on. Whatever definition an individual may have for courage, there probably is some sort of emotion that sparks from their heart. In fact, the Latin word for courage is coraticum. The root cor, literally means heart. So the word coraticum is directly translated as, “an action that comes straight from the heart.” What exactly defines an action from the heart though? Most people probably have this perception of courage as, “people who have a sense of bravery or boldness that fight past danger without showing any sign of fear.” Even though we all have this concept of courage, the world around us is changing, and so is the definition of courage. There is no doubt that courage is a unique word, and we as humans strive to be courageous, in whatever way we depict it in our minds, but the reality is that there are multiple ways of being courageous. An act of courage is always made out to be some noble, heroic action that wins the hearts of many people. There is more than one way to present an act of courage, and we need to open our eyes and realize this. For many people, the greatest act of courage would be one who risks or gives their life up for someone else. This is perhaps one of the greatest actions a person can make, and one that anyone can have profound respect for. Putting this aside, can we still acknowledge courage on a smaller scale that we face in our day to day lives? For example, if someone has lost a loved one but they are able to reconcile from that person’s death, is this still considered an act of courage? This example didn’t involve the act of someone giving or risking their life for someone else, but should this still not be considered a courageous act? It seems that most people want to glorify courage as being some immense deed that seems impossible to