COURAGE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 55, 12 July 1940, Page 19

COURAGE

(Written for "The LISTENER"

By

MARGARET

GRAHAME

"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace, The soul that knows it not, knows no release From little things; "Knows not the livid loneliness of fear, Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear The sound of wings." HOSE lines, written by Amelia Earhardt, the famous American airwoman, whose plane was lost on her round-the-world flight, gave me fresh heart in London in the September crisis of (1938. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of it, and that I think is where most of us go wrong. We forget what courage really means and are ashamed of our fears. "Knows not the livid loneliness of fear." That line removes any doubt that courage, in Amelia Earhardt’s experi-ence-and she had it to a high degreemeans unimaginative daring. Fear, :

— ++ whether for ourselves or for others, has to be known, faced fairly and squarely before it can be overcome. It’s no good trying to hide our fears and push them back into our subconscious minds. A repressed fear will only ruin our nerves and make cowards of us. Again: "Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace." Peace of mind is what is meant here, I think, The repose of spirit, which enables a man or woman to face danger steadfastly and remain unafraid. And then, "release from little things." Release from all those petty fears; worries about bills, about illness, about the 101 small things which so often never happen, Afraid of Being Afraid They disappear anyway in the face of a greater danger, but so many people go about in fear of being afraid when that danger threatens. They imagine themselves going down into an abyss of fear, from which there is no escape, instead of realising that fear is the dark valley through which most of us must pass before we can reach the " mountain heights." For though some people are undoubtedly born brave, the great majority must acquire it. Never be afraid of your fear; don’t hesitate to admit it to yourself. It may be necessary to pretend in front of other people, but you are the one person you can’t deceive. The officer commanding his men, the captain on the bridge, the air raid warden on patrol, the nurse in the hospital, or the mother comforting her children, they must all outwardly show no sign of fear. But in-

-_- wardly let them admit, if necessary: "I'm scared stiff, but I won't give in. I refuse to be governed by my fear. Ill do whatever is required of me." Courage Breeds Courage Each one of us can make the same resolution, adding, too, perhaps, a refusal to worry about those dear to us who may be in danger. And’ having done that, you'll find a calmness of spirit which is the beginning of courage. Further on in her poem, Amelia Earhardt writes: " Each time we make a choice we pay, With courage to behold resistless day, And count it fair." Each time we choose to do something of which we are afraid, we are a step nearer our goal, But courage doesn’t just come out of the blue; it must spring from faithfaith that somehow, despite all trials and dangers, right shall prevail. In "Richard Whittington," Masefield writes: " Courage, sweet lady, for the darkest hour prepares the dawn, the darkest bud the flower." If we can put our faith in that, we can face the future with courage in our hearts and hope in our eyes.