The Price of Courage

I am always charmed by the great inspiration we find (myself included) in history's greatest failures. Although we love, emulate, and seek success, it is often the attempt alone that moves us to sing hymns to the human spirit.

Some of my favorite heroes in history include Frederick Abberline, Earnest Shackleton, Claus von Stauffenberg, and yes, Amelia Earhart. Failures all but just imagine if they had never even tried! History is filled with different incarnations of Rocky Balboa.

As for that lovely statement about courage, of course it is absolutely true. It also seems to me to closely paraphrase a similar sentiment espoused by Thomas Jefferson, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Seems Amelia is flying solo today and she needs a little help. I always liked, "If you wait to do everything that's right, you'll never do anything."

As far as failures go, I don't think Amelia could be considered a failure. Not that fame
guarantees anything, but she found that peace she was looking for, right to the end.

Actually, I should have said, Amelia had one co-pilot, in "Dread," now she has two.
In case any of you language buffs picked it up. And it does take courage to
make a fool of yourself in a public forum.

As a woman I marvel at the audacity and courage of Amelia yet despair at how far we still need to go. Even today, seventy years after her fateful journey, women still make up only 6% of pilots! Women, of course, have so many more options today, yet so many fields still remain relatively segregated along gender lines. It's baffling, much like Amelia's disappearance all those years ago.

Indeed, courage has little to do with success or failure, but rather the will to try. For everyone who has successfully scaled the highest peak - chances are they did so by walking in the footprints of failure.

Courage manifests itself in many ways, but in the end it is the "dare to succeed" commitment to act despite the consequences of failure. Sometimes you make it to the promise land, sometimes you end up at the bottom of the ocean, no matter the destination it is the journey that is most courageous.

Several years ago, i helped my daughter do a paper on Amelia Earhart, it was around the time that a "recreation" of her aborted artound the world flight was being commemorated. We were able to track her "flight" through the Web. it was a good experience for my daughter.

On the tv show "Star Trek: Voyager", Captain Janeway said in one show that she was inspired to be a "starship captain" by Earhart. She meets Earhart in an alternative reality (hey, it's Star Trek...so go figure). Sally Ride, an astronaut, was inspired by Star trek and Earhart

Another woman pilot that should not be forgotten is Beryl Markham. She lived in British East Africa. he was the first English woman to get a pilots license. She was the first woman to fly west across the Atlantic. Her instructor was Denys Finch-Hatton (played by Robert Redford in "Out of Africa"). She was also the first woman to have a trainers license for race horses.

Sometimes I think the schools could really inspire girls by teaching them about these women. When I look at the role-models for young girls today it's depressing: Paris Hilton, Brittney Spears, pampered sports figures, empty-headed celebrities, or shrill empty-suit (or is that empty-dress) politicians.

Not to get political, but Condoleeza Rice could be a role model. Forget her politics..... she's a scholar with a Ph.D, an accomplished pianist, and an athlete. She's the country's top diplomat. And I heard she'd like to be the NFL Football Commissioner one day. What's not to admire?

My daughter was inspired by Amelia Earhart....she knows she can do anything she wants and be anything she wants.

Courage is manifested in so many ways, big and small, everyday, and all around us. Sometimes it witnessed by many, sometimes no one sees it at all. Sometimes its driven by an internal flame, sometimes its quickened by the cheers of a crowd. Its doing something without knowing the outcome, but knowing it’ll probably hurt you one way or another.

Courage is taking a chance and succeeding, or it is falling down again and again, yet you keep getting up no matter how hard it is. Courage is protecting someone weaker from someone stronger than you. Courage can be as simple as saying no when it is so easy to say yes, or as difficult as knowingly putting yourself in harms way to protect someone else, or an ideal. Sometimes it’s courageous to speak your mind in the face of ridicule, or to remain silent for the sake of others. I think its doing the right thing for the right reasons when it’s so much safer to do nothing at all.

What I've been interested in, as far as courage goes, is the line between courage and stupidity. I mean, we all know the tale of Amelia Earhart and her courageous flight across a whole bunch of water and land and her mysterious disappearance. That's courage. But putting yourself in danger for something that has no actual benefit: that's stupid. Courage isn't just doing something you're afraid of. I'm afraid of dying but I'm not going to kill myself in the name of courage. It may seem wrong, and I know there's some better way to put it, but courage only really seems feasible if you get something out of it. If not, it's sacrifice.

What an inspiration! This woman is my hero! A pioneer of flight AND fashion!

Wino: Very well put. I'm reminded of a quote:

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela

That's courage- to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep living. You win some, you lose some, but not matter what, you've got to make the most of it, and you've got to carry on.

The journey truly is the reward.

I think Amelia would agree.

Having a goal is wishful thinking, having a goal and a plan to get there is a calculated risk. We can fail as much as we can win. If the odds are 51% that you will succeed, and you have a goal with a plan to reach that goal then it would be foolish to not act.

Saying you have a goal to reach the top of Everest but you have no plan, no preparation and a less than 50-50 chance, then you're "stupid". But saying you have a goal and a plan and the odds are a little better than 50% then you have courage....start climbing!

Business is the same way. I have goals. I have a business plan. I take calvulated risks based on odds slightly in my favor (I'd like them to be a whole lot in my favor). I take care of the downside (what can go wrong) and work the upside (what can go right).

Amelia had a goal and a plan and a better than even chance of success. She failed, but she has inspired others.

Jumping off a cliff with a parachute may inspire others to do the same. Jumping off that cliff with only a hope and a prayer is stupid and will inspire no one.

I'm a little afraid of water and have problems swimming. I've completed a triathlon. I knew I had a chance. I knew I could fail, too. I'm training for another triathlon. Spinner, one of our group, has inspired me to swim longer distances and use a differfent technique. My desire and technique will carry me through. I'm not just jumping in the water and hoping.....

Dutchman,

I appreciate your point about not considering Earhart a failure. And it occured to me as I was typing. But I went ahead with it because I was using "failure" in its most literal, contextual sense. She set out to do a certain thing in that plane. She didn't make it. As far as her legacy is concerned, that doesn't matter. But I'm sure she would have preferred it if she had made it around the world in good shape. The same could be said of any of my heroes listed above.

In light of your many intellectually productive comments today, here is my simplistic contribution on the subject:

"COURAGE IS BEING SCARED TO DEATH AND SADDLING UP ANYWAY"

JOHN WAYNE

ExPat: Thank you and I hope you are making progress with your swimming. I also like your comments about working hard toward a goal.

Some of you may recall I recounted the story of our son coming back from a bicycle vs pick-up confrontation that he lost. I won't go into it all again, but we watched him work hard day by week by month to get back to the level of competitiveness in swimming he had been before the accident. When he got there, many said how "courageous" he was to fight back. No, he simply had a hard set goal and worked to achieve it. Maybe that is what "courage" is, saying that nothing will stop you from working toward your dreams, but in the everyday world of achieving those dreams, it is simply a lot of hard work. People have also referred to him as very lucky and he replies that it takes a lot of work, research, and preparation to arrive at that "lucky" moment.

To spinner: Thank you for sharing your son's story. I found it inspiring. It's, dare I say it, blood, sweat and tears.

I hate to trivialize this conversation, but does anyone have any thoughts on how to get that worn lived in look in a leather jacket without having to sleep in it?

Dutchman,

Mr. Peterman offers good advice on how to hasten the patina on his counterfeit mail bag. I imagine a similar technique might be applicable to a jacket. Otherwise, perhaps our esteemed host might be able to add something on the subject. If not, well what's a few uncomfortable nights?

Wearing in the hot noonday sun will help too............... but it tends to give the wearer the same lived in look.

Thanks. Extremism in the pursuit of a perfect leather jacket is perfectly justified.

Dutchman,
I know how you feel. I've got a 15 year old J.P. Bomber style jacket that took probably five to seven years to achieve that look and feel. I still wear it, still love it, just gotta treat the leather on a more frequent basis now. Nothing compares to a well broken in leather jacket.