Courage

From wikipedia:
Courage, also known as bravery and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.

Since I read this definition, I've had problems with it, but didn't understand until last night what it was. Any definition should answer who, what, where, when, why and how.

Who is the person is doing the act (or not)
What is the ability to confront ....
Where is anywhere the person is tested
When is anytime the person is tested
How is the method with which they confronted x

But the definition doesn't address the 'why'

I think the why is that the person who is being tested by having to face something frightening has to have a hope that something of equal or greater value to the fear/pain/risk of loss might come as a result.

The main bulk of terrorists do "courageous" things (courageous in the sense that they are taking their bomb laden selves to certain death) because they feel that the result of the act will be something of greater value than their life, namely a place of honor in an afterlife or in history. That says to me that the key to stopping them from commiting these acts is not by making them fear death (a thing they've already come to terms with) or making them ashamed to cause their country to be destroyed by war (again this reality to them is not what matters), but the key to stopping them is to chisel at that hope that their acts will be looked upon with favor by God and history. By creating doubt of the result, you take away the foundation of the courage.

Today I turned in the notarized form 2 of 3 of the divorce papers that James signed. It was so far the hardest part. This divorce is painful and has caused me to lose something incredibly precious to me, but I have done it with the hope that from this, I will become someone who doesn't hope to not wake up in the morning. In a way this courageousness is closely resembling desperation. Did the Greeks remember to dream up a god of desperation when they defined the goddess, Fortitudo? They should be twins.