2. It is important that courage is not confused with foolishness. Doing something stupid even though one may be afraid or nervous to do so, is not courageous. Sometimes this distinction is obvious. For example, I would be afraid to attempt to jump the grand canyon on a motorcycle, but it would not be courageous to overcome that fear and attempt such a feat. I would be putting myself at risk for nothing but pride. But sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between courage and foolishness. Consider the classic horror movie where the woman hears a thump in the basement. She is extremely frightened but goes down to investigate anyways, armed with nothing but a flashlight. Is that courage or stupidity? This is a finer line. Many times the answer lies in context. If she had 3 children, was living in a house in the middle of nowhere, and her husband was gone for the weekend, and in order to protect her children she went downstairs to apprehend a possible intruder, then yes. That would be courageous (although a gun would be better than a flashlight). On the other hand, if she lived in an suburban neighborhood, and it would be safer to grab the kids, go to the neighbor's house, and call the police, then her actions would have been foolish.
3. I hear a scream from the other side of the house. I run down the hallway and find my 4 year old sister the floor of her room crying. She is curled up, paralyzed in fear. I look around to find the source of her fear, and there on the wall is a spider the size of my fist. My heart beats fast as the knot grows in my stomach. Fear creeps down my spine and my hair stands on end. I can't kill that spider! It's huge and probably venomous. Can it jump? But then I look down at my sister and see the fear in her eyes. I have to kill it. I pull off my shoe and take a deep breath. My hand is shaking, and I do my best to stabilize it. I walk closer and pull back my arm. WHACK!
4. Harry Potter was courageous. He did not seek glory or fame. Actually, he would have preferred to be a nobody, but that was not his choice. The prophecy (made about Harry and Voldemort) stated that neither can live while the other survives, so Voldemort made it his mission to kill Harry. As a result Harry was constantly surrounded by fear and danger, but he faced them to protect his friends and the entire world. And at the end, Harry decided to face Voldemort himself not because he wasn't scared, but because if he didn't, all of his friends would die, and that was much worse than facing Voldemort.
5. Courage begins with a crisis or a need, and is followed by a response. In response to this need or crisis, an individual or even a group overcomes (but not necessarily forgets) their fears in order to help, protect, or save another individual or group. This fear can be something as simple as a fear of public speaking or something as serious as a fear of death.
6. People are courageous because something else more important than their fears or an even greater fear motivates them to act. They hope that doing this will help them to avoid a worse outcome than the fear itself.
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