I’m not sure if I’ve ever done a book review online, so this may be my first one. I don’t usually feel compelled to write a review (although I have done so online when asked), but in this case, I was pleasantly surprised by what I read and felt it might be helpful to share my thoughts in hopes someone may find them helpful.
Courage is Calling, the newest book from Ryan Holiday, turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I’ve read Mr Holiday’s other books and enjoyed them very much, especially Ego is the Enemy. I find his writing style easy to follow, and his methods for imparting the wisdom of the stoics to be very digestible.
To be honest, I wasn’t really very excited about this newest book. Courage is a word that seems to get thrown around and abused quite a bit nowadays, but I decided to take a chance. I’m glad I did.
The subtitle of the book is “Fortune Favors the Brave”. As I wound my way through the pages I realized that Mr Holiday’s message was fairly simple, yet it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Courage is a choice.
Mr. Holiday cites several examples of historic figures from the stoics up to Martin Luther King Jr who have been faced with the opportunity to shrink, to run, to hide, but they chose to stand tall and push ahead despite the potential consequences.
With the benefit of hindsight, we know that many times things worked out for people, but Mr. Holiday makes it clear that in the moment, there was no such certainty, yet the figures he mentioned chose to press on.
Often times the figures in the book faced great opposition from family, friends, and society, but something inside them drove them to make their own choice, to follow their own path, and to reap the rewards or consequences therein.
I’m grateful to Mr. Holiday for writing this book and highlighting the possibility that courage is a choice. While reflecting on the book, I realized that I often think of courage as something we are born with, or without. But I realize now that it’s not that simple.
The figures in the book all made a choice. They started into the dark, into opposition, into uncertainty, and still decided to act. They were brave enough to follow their heart.
It’s made me rethink many things in my own life. Situations I encounter where I shrink and “play small”. I let someone else’s opposition or my own fears keep me from acting. I take the easy way out. I lack courage in those moments.
Tomorrow I will confront someone who has considerable ill will toward me. They wish to harm me. I have tried for more than a year to appease this person, taking the high road, and absorbing their insults and accusations.
I told myself I was taking the high road. But I wasn’t. I was afraid. Afraid of them. Afraid of what they are willing to do to me.
But I have been foolish. I have done my homework. There is precious little this person can do to me. Their threats have been hot air, bluffs, and stall tactics.
It will come to a head tomorrow night. I will confront this person and although I will listen and be polite and respectful, after reading Courage is Calling I’ve decided that I will not yield. I have to summon the courage to stand up and confront my abuser.
Tomorrow night I have a choice. I am not a victim or a helpless pawn. I can stand up for myself, and more importantly for what’s right. Courage is Calling has helped me reframe this situation, and many others.
I hate to boil 278 pages down to a few simple sentences, but frankly what I took from this book is that courage is a choice and once we view it as a choice, we begin to unlock all the things that go with the choices we can make.
