Courage or Recklessness?

Do you recall a person in your life whose constant attitude was, “I’ve already made up my mind; don’t confuse me with the facts”? Most of us have made a few bad decisions for lack of information. But have you ever become so committed to a course of action that you intentionally closed your mind to information that might persuade you against it? Perhaps it was the time you chose not to check a car’s reliability ratings because you really wanted the car. Or perhaps it was the time you avoided asking a sensitive question during a job interview. Sometimes it’s easier to assume now and to complain later when you find out you were wrong rather that to face reality up front.

Courage is not recklessness. Courage does not spawn momentum by ignoring potential pitfalls or obstacles. Courage welcomes information, especially the kind that might impact the direction or timing of a decision. Yet courage does not get stuck in “the paralysis of analysis.” You can never know enough to eliminate every danger; only God knows the future. So choose to move forward in spite of well-understood risks. Courage embraces reality with all its hazards, “eyes wide open”.

~John