Courage...

Courage is something I think about a lot. As a wife of a veteran, it is present in my mind every time I look at him. He has had to demonstrate a courage that I will never know.Courage is something I want to teach my children. I hope they never need the kind their father showed but I want them to have courage of conviction and purpose. I want them to be courageous in defense of their friends and those who need a friend. I want them have courage to be themselves and live the life for which they were born.If I want those things, I need to model them. I'm not sure that I always do. Well, specifically that last part. It has taken me many years to start being myself, truly myself. It takes courage to be yourself in a world where you don't fit. My peg wasn't just square, it was a polygon. For many years, there was no John Legend to love all my edges and imperfections. And remember I had a big, red birthmark on my nose.I then chose a profession that worships beauty. I was told I wasn't pretty enough to be the love interest but I was too pretty to be the best friend. What the what? I wanted to be sleek, cool, and put together. Instead, I was ruffled, frazzled, and very much not put together. I am neurotic, over-emotional, and sentimental over the slightest things. It took courage and a lot of years to accept that and be happy with that.I don't want my children to need four decades and a blog to be themselves. (Though I wouldn't mind them having a blog.) I want them to have the courage to be themselves every day and feel good about that. So I, as their mom, need to live that courage everyday.Courageous moms are needed to raise courageous kids.Are you courageous? How do you define courage?