Courage

Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you.  Doing something frightening requires a person to leave his/her comfort zone.  Every person has different fears, so what each person considers to be courageous can also be different.  A recent experience with courage I had was through the screen of a computer.  My grandfather, whom I live with, likes to show me and my family interesting things he finds or learns from, whether it be something from a book, a conversation he had, or anything else.  In this case it was a Ted talk online; a Ted talk about introverts, done by an introvert.

The fact that the speaker, a woman named Susan Cain, was speaking in front of a large crowd struck me as courageous, because I am an introvert also and can never see myself doing such a thing.  She was talking about the subject matter of her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.  Because of her introversion, Cain had to step out of her comfort zone and out of her "natural environment" to promote her book and get her ideas out.  Her passion for her subject was strong enough for her to overlook her fears.

During her speech, Cain discussed how she had tried to hide her introversion and fake extraversion earlier in her life.  She became a lawyer originally, but then became a writer because she had always wanted to be and felt it was a more natural fit for her personality.  I see Cain as displaying true courage for leaving a job as a lawyer, where the pay is usually very reliable, and becoming a writer.  Writers are not guaranteed to be successful and have a reliable source of income, so entering the profession was likely frightening at first.

Introversion is something I struggle with on a day-to-day basis because it is a huge part of who I am and forces me out of my comfort zone everyday in talking to people I do not know well.  Seeing Susan, someone I identify with, display such courage in the Ted Talk showed me how stepping out of your comfort zone can be a good thing.  Even though I hear people say all the time that "blank" showed them that they can "do anything," I am going to say the same thing about seeing Cain's speech.  I want to step out of my comfort zone and do something courageous on day just like Susan Cain.  I just have to figure out what that is.

Click here to see the Ted Talk by Susan Cain

“Figure out what you are meant to contribute to the world and make sure you contribute it. If this requires public speaking or networking or other activities that make you uncomfortable, do them anyway. But accept that they're difficult, get the training you need to make them easier, and reward yourself when you're done.” 
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking