Courage

From Coach Dana

If you haven’t seen the short inspirational movie I just posted on my website: http://www.actionvisioncoaching.com/Community.html please go and watch it. After watching the film it reminded me of something Theresa sent me. I just had to post this article to go along with it. Enjoy, Coach Dana

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By Theresa Koltes

When we ponder the word courage, perhaps we remember great men and women who ruled nations, built empires, went to exotic lands and achieved great things against all odds, or otherwise wrote their names in history.

But what about today? Is courage just a romantic ideal or is it something more? Something perhaps, you've always dreamed of being known for...

There's a saying that goes, “It's not where you're coming from, but what you do with it that matters.”

With that in mind, when I think of the word courage, one man who springs to mind is Carl Brashear, depicted in the 2000 motion picture 'Men of Honor'.

Carl, the son of Black Kentucky sharecroppers, is utterly motivated by his dream of becoming a master diver in the US navy.

Carl dropped out of grade school to help his father with the farm. During World War II he enrolls in the navy and is assigned to menial duties on a ship. One day, as Carl stood on deck watching the white sailors swim in the ocean, he leaped into the water to rescue a swimmer in distress, against standing orders that blacks and whites shouldn’t mix in recreational activities. Although reprimanded he nevertheless astonished the ships officers with his guts and swimming speed.

He is rewarded by being allowed to enroll in the Navy Diving and Salvage School and graduates despite the racial prejudice of the staff and officers of the school and his lack of education. So far he has done exceptionally well but tragedy strikes soon after during the recovery at sea of a ditched nuclear warhead. His leg became entangled in the tackle and he has to have it amputated. But Carl is made of stern stuff and he fights back in his recovery to becoming the only amputee American to claim the title of Master Diver.

What I remember most from the movie is what he said to a librarian while trying to persuade her to help him study so that he could pass the final exam.

“Why ever do you want it so bad?” she had asked.

“Because,” he replied, “they told me I couldn’t have it.”

Do you have a dream you are afraid of following? Maybe it’s too hard, too far, or seems just plain impossible.

I love what Tommy Lasorda said:

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies solely in a person's determination." 

If you are sure it’s meant for you, go after it. Shoot for the stars. Fight for it, no matter what anyone says to the contrary.

That’s what I call modern-day courage.