Enhancing Your Personal Valor
Featured /What is the current state of your
personal valor? How brave are you? Are you brave enough to make the right
decisions for your life, to confront your own internal struggles, to take
ownership for your past, present and future? Are you brave enough to stand up
for your personal convictions and beliefs when there may be some around you who
wish to undermine you as a person? Valor is defined as, "boldness or
determination in facing great danger, especially in battle; heroic courage;
bravery:" We understandably associate battle with military combat, however
we are all challenged each day with the personal emotional, physical and family
battles of life. How bold and determined are you, and have you been, in facing
and conquering those every day battles?
How courageous are you in standing firm
on the principles you believe in, and exemplifying behaviors that reinforces
those principles? As the French Renaissance author and statesman Michel de
Montaigne said, “Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and
the soul.” Valor takes internal strength, commitment and effort, and is the
reason many are prone to take the easy path, and go with the flow even though
that flow may be socially detrimental.
Do you instill manners in your children
and hold them accountable for their behaviors in their interaction with others,
or don't bother because the trend is more accepting that our youth are more ill
mannered than in years past? Do you tolerate insensitivity toward others by
others, because the trend is a smartphone has greater priority than being
considerate and empathetic toward another human being? Do you accept a greater
prevalence of corruption and moral relativism, because the trend is one where
it is now the social norm? Do you turn your back to the rampant excess of
sexual content and violence that your children are exposed to via the media
because the trend is it’s easier to ignore it than say, No? Do you blame others
and everything around you as an excuse why you cannot be the honorable and
accomplished person you can be, because the trend is that so many others are
doing the same thing? What prominent trends do you witness each day that you
believe are destructive to the very fabric of what structures a healthy
society? Do you have the valor to challenge those trends, and in turn challenge
and be true to yourself?
Valor is more likely to be demonstrated when your
character is strong and intact. Character is defined as, “the mental and moral
qualities distinctive to an individual.” What distinctive mental and moral
qualities do you possess? Are those qualities healthy and progressive, or
unhealthy and stagnant? In most cases your character’s true sense is revealed
when life is difficult not easy. An understanding of the core values you
believe reflect the best in you is the foundation for structuring your
character. Acting on those values develops strength of character, and the
stronger your character the more likely you are to display valor. To have valor
also relates to acknowledging your weaknesses. It takes courage to be
vulnerable and to recognize at times the need for personal recovery from our
failures and mistakes.
Optimum valor is achieved when the true reason for valor extends beyond oneself, is principled in nature, and is exercised in the belief that the outcome is in the best interest of humanity. Each day you have the opportunity to display valor. Having the courage to exemplify honesty in all you say and do, require your children to be mannerly, not tolerate others being disrespectful, and standing humbly firm for the principles you believe in are examples of displaying valor. Valor is the backbone for perseverance because it provides you the strength to carry on. As famed British author C.S. Lewis said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” It will be your courage that preserves the form of the values and virtues you believe in, and strengthens you to persevere through those testing points in your life. Your personal valor will be your personal victory.
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