Courage vs Fear

What makes people courageous?  Is it life experience?  Is it not really courage at all, but just getting on with the job at hand?  Is it a desire to do the right thing, no matter what?

I got to thinking about courage this morning because I appear to be lacking in this vital quality.

I get scared about all sorts of silly things.

Like this 54km race I am doing this weekend.

But why?  So I was justifying it to myself this morning like this.....

I am not going to be strapping 10 kilos of heroin to my stomach and get on a flight to Bali.  Repercussions of such behaviour could be:

a) death
b) a long time in a Balinese Prison

Both frightening options.

I am not planning to cycle up the freeway in a pack, clipped into those funny cycling shoes.  Repercussions of this could be:

a) death
b) serious injury

I am not planning to abseil down a cliff then climb through a cave filled with water, swim through said cave, where a rock falls behind me and I go to my watery grave.  Repercussions of this could be:

a)  watery grave
b)  a very scary few minutes dying

I am doing a long bushwalk in the most beautiful part of the countryside and to make it go quicker, I will run the bits that I can.  I will be with friends.  Madzer nutcase friends with freaky feet shoes with open minds and a sense of adventure. The weather is going to be perfect.  And I am going to have a mad sense of achievement afterwards.  I have trained for this, I know I can do it, and I know it will be hard at times. 

Not a frightening option, or scary consequence in sight.

So snap out of it Missus, and get on with it.