Courage

Courage to some may be different than to others. Each of has a story to tell about events that may progress to a full understanding of personal courage. Personal success is a major key in seeing the "big picture" and picking out how courage is played in different roles. Through my eyes courage is a burning desire to achieve not just to accomplish, but do whatever it takes to achieve success. I think that courage has an umbrella effect on every aspect of my life and reaches out to others that I have lead or helped along my life. A friend of mine named Jake Pautsch, brother to army casualty killed in action CPL Jason Graham Pautsch. Told me that" you have to have the courage necessary to take one foot out of the past, and take one foot out of the future or else you are pissing all over today." Jake demonstrated courage and the burning will to do whatever it takes to achieve. I remember jake showing hate in every emotion possible while he attended middle school, and high school. After a while he followed through with his gut feeling and took it upon himself to drop out of high school dispite others thoughts. He had the courage to forge into the unkown. Even though the success drop out rate was at a extremely unpromising. At the time the national drop out rate was at 12.9 percent. The success rate out of that 12.9 percent is 1/4 of those who withdraw from high school. He got a job right away out of high school,and saved his earning for a year and a half with hopes of founding his own business. Today Jake is 19 years old and is the owner of Difinity Companies in Davenport, Iowa. A service company that does fleet/domestic auto detailing, tire sales, and service/commercial hot water pressure washing. He has been a published writer since he was 12 years old. Along with being a highly watched person by the Quad city newspapers for his business and public persuasion abilities. In August 2003 an acticle that he wrote for the Quad City Times was published to get the city of Davenport, Iowa to think about building a free public skate park for BMX riders, Skateboarders, roller bladers. With extensive efforts by Jake and his entourage of highly respected national business personell at city counsel meetings, twelve year old Jake would speak publicly about this needed skatepark to hundreds of people. In 2006, 2.3 million dollars was budgeted for a design and construction of a 35,000 square foot skate park in downtown Davenport, Iowa. In the fall of 2007 the contruction was completed. Thousands have been continually visiting this highly acclaimed top rated national skate park.

Jakes story is just a tip of the iceberg as to where courage is present and where courage will take those who utilize it's imporatance. When the big picture of courage is present in ones mind a person can literally see where it comes into play. The possibilities of greatness are endless. As Jake also says" you have to have the faith in Jesus, courage, and the ability to believe dispite others opinions". Those who express courage undoubtedly, find an easier path to succeeding in America.

For this post on courage, I want to recognize anyone who takes part

in the sport of snowboarding.

Anyone who embraces the adrenaline rush before flying high into the air.

Those who put their body on the line for something that they love.

Those who grind all day on slippery pieces of metal waiting to be dominated.

There is nothing more that i can ask for on a beautiful

winter day than a lift ticket and my snowboard.

There are a select few that pursue this sport, partially because

of the money, but mostly because of the preparation.

Finding a perfect spot to snowboard can take quite awhile before found.

Whether it be a bench or hand rail found at a neighborhood

park or a snow complex such as our local snowstar.

I am ecstatic to use my new Burton Twin to do some serious shredding this year.

The 2010 season is upon us.

For this post I thought it was necessary to recoginize other people who have shown courage to it's greatest extent. Born in Cairo,Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers Jackie Robinson was subjected to prejuidce at a very young age. His mother and four other siblings made up the only african american family on the block that he grew up on. He gained extrodinary skill at playling sports as an adolescent. He later attended the University of California Los Angeles. While enrolled at this school Jackie was the only athlete that gained varsity letters in baseball, basketball, football, and track. After leaving the army with an honorable discharge, Jackie played one season in the negro aseball league. In 1947 Jackie became the first african american to play baseball in the major leagues since 1889. He gained titles such as rookie of the year, and as later inducted into the baseball hall of fame. "I guess you'd call me an independent, since I've never identified myself with one party or another in politics. I always decide my vote by taking as careful a look as I can at the actual candidates and issues themselves, no matter what the party label." This wa said by one of the most courageous people that have ever played sports. Jackie Robinson

Most of us view courage as small steps of herosim in our daily lives. A good portion of society takes the freedoms that god has given us for granted. It's the people that have a freedom stripped from them and still go day to day living their life that really experience courage. How would you react if you woke up and your vision was gone? If the freedom of viewing the vivid colors around your room was robbed from you? The only thing for miles and miles when driving on a beautiful country road was an endless black tunnel? How would you react? When thinking of the answers to the following questions I get a sudden appreciation for the ability to look at this very computer sceen. It would be nearly impossile to recognize every person who suffers from being blind, so I'm going to use a very famous person for an example. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." This was stated by Helen Keller who in my opinion lived a life of courage.

This week my group of classmates and I will undergo the task of composing a research paper. We have chosen the topic of "Childrens Rights in Africa". This led me to think about a recent presentation in our school auditorium that was about Joseph Kony's child soldiers in Africa. The information that was forced into my brain was extremely depressing. Joseph Kony is a terrorist who kidnaps children from ages six to their later teen years, to forcefully join his rebellion. If the prisoners question the rebels, they will threaten to harm he or she that was taken, or their family. The cutting off of noses and ears were given as brutal examples. This information created an overcoming pit in my stomach. Why would one man terrorize thousands of innocent people? On therescue.com the creators of the site go in to great detail about why this man hasn't been stopped yet. I think that anyone who reads this should glance at this site and voice their opinion to the community around them.

Those who can accomplish what the image above states and depicts are well on their way to a better life. Conquering fears are one of those things that take a lot of personal initiative. Once a fear is overcome some people, like myself seem more confident. One of my favorite quotes is "

“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain”. This was said by the great Ralph Waldo Emerson. To succeed at overtaking a fear, an enormous amount of courage is required. The one thing that i do not agree on about this picture is the caption, " then run like hell". From my own observation i have seen that those who are cowardice run, or give up when a problem surfaces. For instance, this friday the Moline Football team is facing their eldest rivals. The Rock Island Moline rivalry is the oldest sports grudge match in the state of Illinois. In the beginning of this season our team faced a good amount of adversity with five straight losses. Although this may have a negative impact on a team, defeat has only given us motivation to better our efforts. I can promise any spectators of our gruesome brawl, that we will do the opposite of cower, or run away from our foes.

There are a multitude of impacts that courage can have on one's life. Paintball is an extremely fun activity that involves a lot of courage. Sprinting through the woods anticipating the blurry spray of paint bullets to ricochet off of my body raises my adrenaline level. One type of this sport is capture the flag. In this activity courage and team work are a must. First both teams walk an equal distance into the enemy's territory and place a flag for the other team to capture. Then team members talk about their strategy on how to approach the enemy's base. Next each team walks back to their domain and awaits three honks of a horn to signal when to begin. After the game has started non-stop agressive decision making must occur for a team to succeed. Once the opposing flag is brought back over to your boundary, the game is over. All the while, each team is shooting paintballs at the opponent to prevent them from coming to their territory.

When the word courage is heard throughout the bulk of society, extreme examples come to mind. One is soldiers defending their lives and country battling in war. The President of the United States makes decisions for the entire country daily. Fire Fighters plunge into flames risking their lives to save the lives of others. I could go on all day about the obvious but intense forms of courgae. I have found that some of the not so obvious examples of courage are also worth a great deal of recognition. Mentally and Physically handicapped individuals are a primary canidate for the previous statement. Everyday each person with a disability wakes up the same as everyone else. The only difference is that they have to overcome their obstacles whether they are physical or mental. This makes everyday tasks much more difficult than it is for the average person. It takes a lot of courage for them to keep trying in the face of adversity and the ignorance of other people. When observing the difficulty of a simple task like walking for some individuals with physical disabilities, it makes me thankful for the many gifts I have been given by God that I take for granted everyday. If I ever feel down about something I have not achieved, all I have to do is to think about the courage it must take for the disabled.

Its sunday so im going to make some references to football that are relative to courage. Retreiving the snap from a center takes courage. Putting personal health at risk for a team takes courage. Taking on four hulking defensive lineman takes courage. Throwing a pass takes courage. Giving self and time takes courage. Running a pass route takes courage. Feeling the impact of a barreling defensive lineman takes courage. Defending a pass takes courage. Protecting a team mate takes courage. Trusting in a team takes courage. Calling plays takes courage. Representing an entire school takes courage. Jumping in the air leaving your body exposed to injury takes courage. Fighting through an offensive line takes courage. Being a leader takes courage. All of these examples of courage happen daily within the game of football. Pure trust and dedication to a family takes courage. Football takes alot of courage.

Courage is something that we all posess. Some a little bit more than others. I have found in my life that there are even more benificial possibilities when taking a greater risk. I can't begin to stress the corrolation to a better reward when a greater task or risk is taken on. Being a football player i can relate this information to numerous examples on and off the field. Going to move the chains on a fourth down to attempt a succesful drive into the end zone takes alot of courage. This shows how courage can play a role in many of the situations that we run into during life. http://darb.ketyov.com/images/entertainment/courage.jpg. In the linked picture a man stands in front of multiple tanks immenitly forcing their way down the road. This image could define courage without words. He shows raw courage to show off his beliefs about war. I only wish anyone that reads this caption, shows as much courage and to the extent of the man in this picture. We are tested daily, even during school on how courageous we can be. Our grades and extracarricular life will benifet or deminish on how we act.

what is courage?