The Trappings of Courage

A courage unproved has no honor, no celebration, no guts, no glory. A courage unproved can only be felt in the blood, as a headlong torrent of zeal. Courage unproved and little perceived declines to it's ironic polar: fear. The agitation that oneself is limp and phobophobic is what drives one to stupid risks and fruitless endeavors, just to prove oneself not a chicken. Unproved courage is just as much a foible as cowardice. How then, might courage be proved without resulting to rashness? Short of testing one's courage, which is not always possible, the answer is by examining the trappings of courage. These trappings include faith, virtue, and honesty.

A faithful person cares not for whatever obstacles stand in their way, for, no matter the roadblock or conditions, that person will reliably overcome them. Courage and fear then becomes superlative because the thing that needed courage to overcome will be overcame despite personal feelings, for one is faithful. This definition of faith is the lesser definition then the kind of faith one thinks of first. That kind of faith is faith in God. Faith in God inspires courage, because no matter what happens, the house of the faithful is built on the rock, "where if ye build ye cannot fall."

Virtuous people are moral people who do not fall for temptations. This is a trapping of courage because virtue is an act of will, this will that creates virtue, is also the will that will act courageously when fearful events happen. Virtue can be defined as a metal that is strong, can withstand pressure, is flexible, and stainless. To be like a virtuous metal, one must be all those things that metal is. Thus when confronted with a situation that will prove one's courage, virtue will shine forth and give one that excellent courage.

Honesty is truth, and the truth might be that one is cowardly, but when the truth is spoken, logic presides. If one admits cowardice, one knows the he must be brave, and can take steps to be so. When one lies and believes that they are being courageous by skirting their fear, nothing is resolved, one grows not and one learns not. Honesty is the harbinger of true courage.

These are the trappings and the signs by which one can tell if one is courageous or cowardly without putting that person through toucher to find out. If a person is unfaithful and unreliable, viceful, and flawed, If a lier, then that person shows their courage not,  for, courage in it's true state does not reside within them.