Courage and Tenacity

We could draw up an endless list of the qualities that most people agree everyone should possess in order to lead a remarkable life; let us consider on this occasion only a few of them: honesty, intelligence, creativity, humility, patience, responsibility, industriousness, discipline... I was reflecting a little and realized that there are two qualities which practically eclipse the rest from a wide variety of angles: courage and tenacity. We may devote ourselves to being honest throughout our lives, but if we do not possess the courage to defend the truth, being honest will be worth little. We may be intelligent in the conduct of our actions, but if we do not possess the courage to carry those actions out, we may never obtain the results we want. We may be endowed with creativity, but if we lack the courage to assert our point of view and to impose our art, then our creations will probably never be appreciated as we hope. Does it take courage to be humble? Well, yes. There will probably be occasions in life when circumstances make us feel better than or superior to others; in those cases one must have the courage to acknowledge one's own limitations and weaknesses. Patience can be a heroic act at times. In an age of demanding pressures and limited time such as ours, patience is a scarce quality; one must have the courage not to opt for quick results, despair, or pessimism. Perhaps responsibility is one of a person's most admirable qualities; however, we cannot think of responsibility as an isolated quality, for in most circumstances it is tied to the courage to overcome obstacles in order to fulfill the tasks entrusted to us. One can hardly speak of responsibility if we do not have the courage to accept the consequences of our actions. When we describe a person as hardworking or industrious, we are indirectly also speaking of that person's courage in facing, day after day, the challenges that arise, being in the process useful to himself and to others by lending his time and skills. Discipline undoubtedly requires courage. Courage is necessary to rise above disorder and chaos, to abide by the rules, and to remain constant over time in the pursuit of an objective. Courage is so important and so indispensable in almost every aspect of our lives, and yet it is possible that we overlook it. We need courage in love, in friendship, in family, in our studies, at work, in everything. Perhaps that is why writers do not constantly single it out when constructing heroic characters, for beyond whatever strength and gifts he may possess, it is usually courage—valor—that tends to be the most important of his qualities. The world has largely been conquered by the brave, and both history and literature never tire of reminding us of it. Courage is undoubtedly an extraordinary quality; however, despite its relative supremacy, I still believe it must be complemented by another: tenacity. Courage is fundamental, but it does not lose that air of the temporary, of the instantaneous. Courage is required for the key moments of our lives: when we take a risk, when we protect a person important to us, when we tell the truth, or even when we try to say what we feel; but after that initial burst that courage induces in us, we require tenacity to carry on with the same drive, with the same strength, without faltering, without giving up, to hold out until we reach our objective. Tenacity in a man is indispensable for sustaining courage over time. Courage and tenacity are qualities, or values, that we must reinforce in all of us if we wish to become the best version of ourselves. © Alejandro Guipe | All Rights Reserved.