We live in a multi-tech, plugged in, connected world. Most folks are so connected that their smart phone has become an added appendage. If all that technology were to disappear, I fear that many people would experience a mental breakdown. Don't get me wrong; I like technology and the benefits are readily apparent to me. But today it seems that people walk around with smart phones strapped to their hips, similar to the folks of yesteryear who wore a gun around their waists. And before guns, it was swords and knives.
Contrary to what gun control nuts want you to believe, few people walk around with a gun strapped to their midriff. However, the opposite is true when it comes to smart phones. Frankly, I believe that it takes some courage for a person to leave their smart phones at home for a day. Oh, good gawds! Just consider what that person will have missed! Like, what virtual friend bought their breakfast coffee at what particular coffee shack. And, what some goofy reality star posted, somewhere. Please don't forget who unfriended who on Facebook. Ah yes, perish the thought! Yes, I am being silly, but there is nothing silly about true courage.
The lion's share, the majority of us never will be (well, let's hope so) in a situation that played out in my book, The Last Wizard - The Story of a Reluctant Hero (the first book of my Reluctant Hero Trilogy). Those fictional characters of mine faced a bad situation and made a choice to live free or die trying; many perished. What the average person faces today still requires courage, but of a different kind.
Personally, I believe that the underlying principal of courage is to do what is right, always, regardless of the consequences. This is harsh, do not doubt it. To do that, to do that what is right, to stick to your guns so to speak, requires intestinal fortitude and and a huge amount of personal discipline.
When a fellow employee is dismissed based on false information, and you know the truth, it takes courage to speak up in his defense. When a woman has the same skill sets and time on the job and receives less pay then her male counterparts, it takes courage to speak up for equal pay for all. If a child is tossed off a juvenile sports team because he does not fit the social nature of said team, that kid needs a champion.
Unfortunately because of the overreaching of political correctness, most people will absorb the previous examples, plus more, and just drone on. They are afraid to act because they know that there will be personal repercussions. The old adage, doing what is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right is spot on in situations like these. Putting your head on the chopping block never is.
There is no question that people who have done the right thing and had the personal discipline to carry it though have taken a beating. They have withstood personal disrepute, loss of income, loss of social stature, and fractures within their family. Well, the heavy-handedness brought against the little guy who stands up for what's right is nothing new. But for those brave few who have stood up for what's right, and who have stayed the course, they have won the day. And in some small way, they have made it better for us. This is a small example of courage in our modern times. Think about that when you are struggling to summon the courage to leave your smart phone behind.
Copyright @2013 Terry Unger
