COURAGE...2

IT TAKES COURAGE 

It takes courage

To refrain from gossip

When others delight in it,

To stand up for the absent person

Who is being abused.

It takes courage

To live honestly

Within your means,

And not dishonestly

On the means of others.

It takes courage

To be a REAL man or a TRUE woman,

To hold fast to your ideals

When it causes you

To be looked upon

As strange and peculiar.

It takes courage

To be talked about,

And remain silent,

When a word would justify you

In the eyes of others,

But which you dare not speak

Because it would injure another.

It takes courage

To refuse to do something

That is wrong

Although everyone else

May be doing it

With attitudes as carefree

As a summer song.

It takes courage

To live according

To your own convictions,

To deny yourself

What you cannot afford.

To love your neighbor

As yourself!