Courage

Why is 'discourage' not the opposite of 'courage'?  I have been thinking about discouragement lately... and feeling quite discouraged by a few things, wondering, "what in the world is going on?"  So then, to try and think of more positive things, I started to think about courage -- and they aren't opposites.  Courage is the ability to do something that is scary or frightening...  and I think of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.  It is funny how my mind wanders... In Swahili (I think -- at least some African language), the word for courage is the same as that for 'kidney'.  So if someone says, "Wow!  You have a lot of kidney!", it means, 'you are very courageous!'.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine, emotions and the physical body are closely connected.  So if someone has a problem in their kidneys, it may be associated with being fearful (cowardly?) or insecure.  

This word track has nothing to do with the discouragement I have been feeling.  But it was fun to wander away from it for a bit.  And, by the way, regarding this photo of the tiger and me -- the look on my face shows that I don't have a lot of kidney!