This is a response to the one-word prompt “Cowardice” by “The Daily Post.”
Are you a coward, no seriously are you? And I am not talking about being afraid or scared or anything of the such. Because we all are afraid of something in life, everyone gets scared sometimes. That is not what makes one a coward. Cowardice according to Merriam-Webster is fear that makes you unable to do what is right or expected: lack of courage. I would also add that cowardice is when fear drives you to do something you normally would not or is not expected of you.
To be a coward does not mean that you are afraid, but rather it means that you are letting your fear drive you and control you instead of you controlling the fear. We all have fear, but that alone does not make us cowards, it is how we handle that fear that defines us. Why does the fireman run into a burning building to save a life? Does it mean that unlike you or me he is completely unafraid? No, not at all in fact I would wager that he is completely terrified, yet he goes in any way. He then shows that he has no cowardice in him because while he may have a lot of fear about running into the burning building, that fear does not control him nor stop him form doing so.
So once again I ask you, are you a coward or not? Do you control your fear or does it control you? Think of these questions the next time you find your self afraid or see someone being scared. Remember that fear does make a coward, but how one handles that fear does or does not. Fear is actually a good thing when managed rightly, for it can motivate us. It can drive us to go great things. But when it is not managed rightly it can also drives us to do terribly bad things as well. How do you manage your fear? Are you a coward?