I have a few poems that are my all time favorites. This is one of them. It reminds me that to have courage when I need it most I must already have it within me. I must nurture my courage each day as I step out of my comfort zone and do hard thing after hard thing. Then, when the big moments when courage is needed come, I will already be the person I need to be for the task. I will already have courage in my heart.

Life isn’t for the weak or timid. It takes courage to live up to our roles each day. To be mothers and fathers, husbands and wives is not always easy. It requires personal sacrifice and dedication to a great goal; a vision of what will be one day even though times are hard now.

Keep going. Develop your courage now. I am convinced that even though some of these parenting moments seem hard, there are always harder challenges to come. You are growing your courage now.

Enjoy this amazing poem. And, if you like to memorize poems with your family like I do, this one is a GEM.

Courage

by Edgar A. Guest

Courage isn’t a brilliant dash,
A daring deed in a moment’s flash;
It isn’t an instantaneous thing
Born of despair with a sudden spring

It isn’t a creature of flickered hope
Or the final tug at a slipping rope;
But it’s something deep in the soul of man
That is working always to serve some plan.

Courage isn’t the last resort
In the work of life or the game of sport;
It isn’t a thing that a man can call
At some future time when he’s apt to fall;

If he hasn’t it now, he will have it not
When the strain is great and the pace is hot.
For who would strive for a distant goal
Must always have courage within his soul.

Courage isn’t a dazzling light
That flashes and passes away from sight;
It’s a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait
With the patience to work and the strength to wait.

It’s part of a man when his skies are blue,
It’s part of him when he has work to do.
The brave man never is freed of it.
He has it when there is no need of it.

Courage was never designed for show;
It isn’t a thing that can come and go;
It’s written in victory and defeat
And every trial a man may meet.

It’s part of his hours, his days and his years,
Back of his smiles and behind his tears.
Courage is more than a daring deed:
It’s the breath of life and a strong man’s creed.