Courage all around us

We see acts of courage — strength in the face of fear, pain or grief — in our lives all the time.

I read this weekend about Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian journalist and human rights activist, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her fight against the systematic discrimination and oppression of women and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all in Iran.

Mohammadi has been a prisoner for most of the past two decades and is currently serving a a 12-year jail sentence. She has been sentenced repeatedly for being the voice of the voiceless and for rallying others against the death penalty and solitary confinement – which she has had to endure for weeks at a time.

While notable Mohammadi isn’t the only one in the headlines showcasing her courage.

Photo by Sven Huls on Pexels.com

I read too about John Urschel who stepped away from a promising NFL career at the young age of 26 to work toward his Ph.D. in mathematics. He feared he wasn’t being honest with himself and his dreams. While his teammates and colleagues knew he was pursuing a degree, they had no idea he was using his free time to publish six academic papers. 

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Penn State University and then completed a PhD in mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2021. He returned to the school this fall to serve as an assistant professor following stints with the Institute for Advanced Study and serving as a junior fellow at Harvard University. He has also published or co-published more than twenty academic papers.

On his faculty bio page, Urschel shares that his area of interest “largely consists of topics in numerical linear algebra, spectral graph theory, and certain topics in theoretical machine learning.” And oh yea, there’s not one mention of his football exploits.

Courage comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

I write today about a coworker I worked with years ago who showed tremendous courage battling cancer. She ended up losing her battle, but fought through her pain and fear with immense faith and love for her children. Check out my blog, What kind of message would I be leaving?, on The Heart of The Matter.

When you think of courage during difficult times, what moments stick out for you? What do your moments have in common?

Related Story:

What kind of message would I be leaving?

on The Heart of The Matter

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24 thoughts on “Courage all around us”

    1. I saw an interview where he talked about that, the idea that he felt like he was throwing away his gift (math). He had a concussion that took a while to fully recover and he started having second thoughts. A short time later, he made the decision to leave football.

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  6. Those are all great stories.
    As I was reading this, I thought of motivational speaker, Lewis Howes.
    I saw him speak at his Summit of Greatness in 2018, and he shared his story that while he was successful, he couldn’t enjoy his success. He was carrying around a big weight — that he was molested as a child, by a male babysitter. He carried the shame around with him and wanted to share his story to help other people. Once he did, he felt a great relief and was able to enjoy his life again. I felt that was a great act of courage, to hold that dark secret and then to share in order to help others.

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    1. Wow, I agree, what a great act of courage. I used to think courage was about war and violence. While it might be, I think courage really is anything that scares us. I have a good friend who used to hate public speaking, was really fearful of it. He hated feeling that way, so he joined toastmasters and gives speeches and lectures all the time. It’s simple in the grand scheme of things, but I think it’s really courageous. He’s facing his worst fears. For Howes, wow, just think of all the people who hear his story and come to grips with their own nightmares. He’s helping so many others. Powerful story.

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      1. Definitely powerful, and an interesting side note, it was Lewis Howes who inspired me to join Toastmasters!!
        He said he joined to become a better speaker! And it sure helped me plenty too. I learned to use my hands when speaking and to memorize my speeches.
        In a short time I won “best speaker,” “best table topics” and “best evaluator.” And second place for Tall Tales.

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  7. Oh wow Brian, what courage it takes to step outside your comfort zone and commit to something you are passionate about, even if it isn’t popular. That just makes it even better. You’ve given us some endearing examples in your message, and thank you for the reminder of living a courageous life. Bravo! 👏🏼🥰👏🏼

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