Extended definition essay ~courage lives in all of us~
When it comes to life, all of us need courage. Life is not long term. It’s short. It doesn't take a hero to have courage. Courage is an old man fighting to live on his deathbed; courage is a mom letting her boy go to college. Courage is an activity; it is not in any way passive. It takes brain power, soul, and will power. Not everybody has courage in them. In order to be a leader you must have courage. An example of a leader who shows this is Odysseus from the book The Odyssey by Homer. Although sometimes a leader’s courage can get mixed with their pride, which is dangerous and can get them in trouble. An example of when Odysseuses pride came in was when he wanted to gloat to the Cyclopes of how he tricked him and escaped. In which the cyclops had a fit and almost killed them, and then put a curse on them. But, Oddyssues showed he had courage, he never would shy away from a problem. He would always face it. Courage is the ability to fight through a problem even when you're scared. Without courage, you'll never be able to get through an unpleasant situation. Courage is "the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear" (“Courage”).
Many people don't understand what it means to have courage. In all truth I think people tend to mix it up with adventurousness. But, they are very different, courage and adventurousness. Courage is like the backbone of everything you do from skydiving to trying out for a musical. It’s in everything we do, and we wouldn't be alive if there wasn't courage. For example, it takes courage to find your mate; therefore, there would not be reproduction without it. When adventurousness is more a type of being, like if you like going on safaris. Adventurousness is the thirst to go and do something that involves courage. Without courage there would be no adventurousness to describe.
Courage is a honorable word. By that I mean for anybody to have courage they have to be honorable himself. There are three people in my life that I feel have the eligibility to fit that description. They are very important to me. They are my Grandma Vicky, my Great Grandma Irene, and my Mom. They raised me, taught me right from wrong. All of these ladies share a strong standing point, all three are mothers. In my mind being a mother takes much courage. They have to give birth, then they have to devote their lives to their young.
First lets talk about the oldest and mother of the most children, my great grandma Irene. She had five kids. Crazy, huh? She had four girls and one boy. She often tells me stories of the hard times she had to go through. I mean it's not like she didn't have a job or anything like that. It was just the great depression had such a hold on everyone. Let alone a family of seven. Including my grandma and grandpa. Yet she always maintained to be a loyal loving mother.
Next in the family tree, one of my great grandma Irene's children, my grandma Vicky. My grandma Vicky had two children, my mom and my aunt Melissa. Even though my grandma Vicky only had two children, she still showed courage. For one she was a single mother. Every day having to be strong. Even though she hasn't had the most privileged life, she has always had courage.
Finally there's my mom. Every day I look as this woman. I see a loving, caring, and courageous woman. She is my mother. She's the woman who taught me how to enjoy life. Every day I see her struggles. Although those struggles don't define her, her courage does.
Not only these women have courage, there are public figures who have courage too. An example of a public figure who has shown courage is Robin Roberts. From diseases like “breast cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome” ( "Robin René") to “coming out as being lesbian” (“'GMA' anchor”). This women has not failed to surprise us. Anything takes courage for you and me, but she's a co-anchor on one of the most watched morning shows in America, Good Morning America. Which puts extra stress on her. Everyone is watching her and looking for her mistakes. Everyone’s a critic.
As I said Robin Roberts has gone through the toughest of times, maybe the toughest of them all was the diseases. First she had to deal with breast cancer, a very hard cancer for ladies. Because it involves a very private part to them. Then as a result of that disease and "it's chemo it gave her a rare condition, myelodysplastic syndrome, A rare blood disease in which she would have to go through more surgeries, a bone marrow transplant" (Morabito).
After months of recovery, she was finally getting better. I think Robin Roberts had finally found out that life is short. So not long after she got recovered, she came out of the closet as gay. That took courage, maybe not the same type of courage as the courage not to die. But it was the courage to face all of her critics and to face the ignorant. She had people who didn't agree with her choice, but she had her handful of people who backed her up. An example of someone on her side is our First Lady Michelle Obama, she tweeted, " I'm so happy for you and Amber! You continue to make us all proud" ("'GMA' anchor"). As you can see even the most influential of people have courage.
I believe that the weakest of a person has courage. Even if it's just a speck of courage deep down inside. They just have to pull deep down and grab it. It's in everyone from a young boy to a man. Don't be afraid. Without having courage, you won't ever be satisfied with your life.
Works Cited
"Courage." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 11 Apr. 2014. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Courage>.
"'GMA' anchor Robin Roberts publicly acknowledges she's gay." CNN Wire 30 Dec. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOver&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&u=lom_stjosephhs&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE|A354264786>.
Morabito, Andrea. "GOOD DAY AT GMA." Broadcasting & Cable. 15 Apr. 2013: 8. eLibrary. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/elib/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=19&edition=&ts=BCBAF3C9ECA3519AB860A1F351987300_1397218892179&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B215808189>.
"Robin René Roberts." 2014. The Biography.com website. Apr 09 2014. http://www.biography.com/people/robin-roberts-21188247>.
Many people don't understand what it means to have courage. In all truth I think people tend to mix it up with adventurousness. But, they are very different, courage and adventurousness. Courage is like the backbone of everything you do from skydiving to trying out for a musical. It’s in everything we do, and we wouldn't be alive if there wasn't courage. For example, it takes courage to find your mate; therefore, there would not be reproduction without it. When adventurousness is more a type of being, like if you like going on safaris. Adventurousness is the thirst to go and do something that involves courage. Without courage there would be no adventurousness to describe.
Courage is a honorable word. By that I mean for anybody to have courage they have to be honorable himself. There are three people in my life that I feel have the eligibility to fit that description. They are very important to me. They are my Grandma Vicky, my Great Grandma Irene, and my Mom. They raised me, taught me right from wrong. All of these ladies share a strong standing point, all three are mothers. In my mind being a mother takes much courage. They have to give birth, then they have to devote their lives to their young.
First lets talk about the oldest and mother of the most children, my great grandma Irene. She had five kids. Crazy, huh? She had four girls and one boy. She often tells me stories of the hard times she had to go through. I mean it's not like she didn't have a job or anything like that. It was just the great depression had such a hold on everyone. Let alone a family of seven. Including my grandma and grandpa. Yet she always maintained to be a loyal loving mother.
Next in the family tree, one of my great grandma Irene's children, my grandma Vicky. My grandma Vicky had two children, my mom and my aunt Melissa. Even though my grandma Vicky only had two children, she still showed courage. For one she was a single mother. Every day having to be strong. Even though she hasn't had the most privileged life, she has always had courage.
Finally there's my mom. Every day I look as this woman. I see a loving, caring, and courageous woman. She is my mother. She's the woman who taught me how to enjoy life. Every day I see her struggles. Although those struggles don't define her, her courage does.
Not only these women have courage, there are public figures who have courage too. An example of a public figure who has shown courage is Robin Roberts. From diseases like “breast cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome” ( "Robin René") to “coming out as being lesbian” (“'GMA' anchor”). This women has not failed to surprise us. Anything takes courage for you and me, but she's a co-anchor on one of the most watched morning shows in America, Good Morning America. Which puts extra stress on her. Everyone is watching her and looking for her mistakes. Everyone’s a critic.
As I said Robin Roberts has gone through the toughest of times, maybe the toughest of them all was the diseases. First she had to deal with breast cancer, a very hard cancer for ladies. Because it involves a very private part to them. Then as a result of that disease and "it's chemo it gave her a rare condition, myelodysplastic syndrome, A rare blood disease in which she would have to go through more surgeries, a bone marrow transplant" (Morabito).
After months of recovery, she was finally getting better. I think Robin Roberts had finally found out that life is short. So not long after she got recovered, she came out of the closet as gay. That took courage, maybe not the same type of courage as the courage not to die. But it was the courage to face all of her critics and to face the ignorant. She had people who didn't agree with her choice, but she had her handful of people who backed her up. An example of someone on her side is our First Lady Michelle Obama, she tweeted, " I'm so happy for you and Amber! You continue to make us all proud" ("'GMA' anchor"). As you can see even the most influential of people have courage.
I believe that the weakest of a person has courage. Even if it's just a speck of courage deep down inside. They just have to pull deep down and grab it. It's in everyone from a young boy to a man. Don't be afraid. Without having courage, you won't ever be satisfied with your life.
Works Cited
"Courage." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 11 Apr. 2014. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Courage>.
"'GMA' anchor Robin Roberts publicly acknowledges she's gay." CNN Wire 30 Dec. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOver&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&u=lom_stjosephhs&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE|A354264786>.
Morabito, Andrea. "GOOD DAY AT GMA." Broadcasting & Cable. 15 Apr. 2013: 8. eLibrary. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/elib/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=19&edition=&ts=BCBAF3C9ECA3519AB860A1F351987300_1397218892179&&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B215808189>.
"Robin René Roberts." 2014. The Biography.com website. Apr 09 2014. http://www.biography.com/people/robin-roberts-21188247>.