My Story & Philosophy of Courage
“The spirit of courage is easy to dull by accepting what is a safer, more comfortable, and more guaranteed life.” -Justin Markowitz
One winter night in Colorado back in 2018 I discovered the story of Alexander McCandless, the backpacker who gave up everything he had and hit the road. The story touched me deeply, sparking an intense desire to push myself to travel farther, longer, and with less. As I devoured the book and movie "Into The Wild" in the following week, my admiration for the courageous spirit with which McCandless journeyed grew more and more. He inspired me to look at my own life as a journey of courageous decisions to discover what the world had to offer, and to nurture my body and mind in the best possible way—via traveling with nothing but a backpack and dream of writing down the adventures which would mature me throughout my twenties.
My Courageous Journey
Amongst the first moments of my travel journey was moving out of my hometown and driving through a severe rainstorm which derailed many cars. Plodding down the flooded country highway at a snail’s pace, I was scared to keep going but more scared to stop. That drive taught me that some courage comes from facing our own mortality and not giving up.
Then in moving to Crested Butte, Colorado with the knowledge of needing to work two jobs to sustain myself, I felt like I asked myself to climb a gigantic wall via a slippery, carved staircase, without promise of reaching the top. But to live out the dream of skiing every day, I learned that some courage comes from working towards a goal which guarantees only risk.
One of the scariest and most beneficial moments of my travel journey was boarding a plane to China, without a return flight. I recall waving goodbye to my loved ones and wondering the date of our next meeting, then walking down the jet bridge and trembling with an urge to turn around and away from the plane. But I didn’t, and completing a master’s degree overseas pushed me to study intensively, adapt everything about my life to a new culture, and become more understanding of idiosyncrasies within others. Summoning the courage to sit in that 777 seat felt like bracing myself in the moment before making a sudden drop, and taught me that other courage comes from following through on the standards we we set for ourselves.
These different journeys in my life all taught me how to use travel as an impetus to grow and learn about myself. I found that changing my physical location also spurred mental changes in me. But as I became more familiar with courage, I began to wonder where it came from, and thought to my earliest experiences.
The most impactful, courage oriented decision certainly came shortly after my childhood leukemia diagnosis. I was in the waiting room of a pediatric chemo clinic; toys made of bent wire and beads sat on the table, and screams echoed from behind the heavy, wooden door. Nurses periodically opened and closed the door, filling the waiting room with fleeting moments of amplified terror. The screams haunt me to this day, and I recall looking around the waiting room to see if I was alone in this angst. Sullen faces stared at the ground, limbs tapped apprehensively, and the air was thick. My six year old heart sank in dismay.
Then a courageous spirit compelled me to make a promise: never cry no matter how badly whatever they do hurts, because nothing could be worth perpetuating the sickening atmosphere of that waiting room. And it was done.
I share this last story because inside everyone is the same courageous spirit, always trying to shine brightest during the moments of highest anxiety. The courageous spirit which touched me as a child taught the value of inner strength as persistently confronting the fears and anxieties of finite abilities, mortality, and failure. This alteration of my mental landscape was the beginning of a lifelong journey.
A Leap of Courage
Throughout the course of our lives, courageous leaps of faith are inevitable. An event demanding a leap of faith could be work, health, or human relations oriented, but universally these moments signify the beginning of a new journey. A meaningful journey changes the journeyer, and is demarcated by choices made in both the internal and external worlds. Choices lead to outcomes which build our perception of the world both mentally and physically. Thus, the choices surrounding leaps of faith are some of the most impactful choices in life.
Sometimes life does not present a choice within given circumstances, and sometimes it does, but the beginning steps of a journey are rarely easy. Remembering that with courage a person can make choices which incarnate good journeys is essential. Maybe there is a trip you always wanted to take, a business you always wanted to begin, or a person you always wanted to ask out; all of these present nerve-wracking choices and demand courage to bubble up in your chest. Because the courageous decision often enriches life, people owe it to themselves to face the anxiety associated with it.
Courage is the basis of action for the adventuring philosopher. For any traveler looking to push their boundaries to grow as a person, courage fuels those first steps to exit the comfort zone—whatever that may be. Some people’s comfort zone is leaving what they know, aka their home, while other’s is visiting another country for the first time or leaving a traveler group to understand what the solo travel experience is like. Maybe your comfort zone has nothing to do with travel. But wherever your comfort zone is, departing from it will be scary, transformative of who you are, and it will require the courage to break a Mental Sweat.
-Justin Markowitz
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