Courage the cowardly dog
…on managing expectations
That’s not a very good name for someone with paranoia…
Courage the cowardly dog was one of my favorite cartoons growing up, I low-key still watch past episodes and a couple of others like Dexter’s laboratory and Ed, Edd and Eddy. Yes! I remember Megas XLR. Loved it.
The thing with Courage though is he doesn’t act his name, the pink dog suffers from extreme paranoia and timidity. His life does such disservice to his name.
I’m not sure who named him, but, Eustace and Muriel (his owners), probably let him keep the name because they had expectations… and that’s what people do… Everyone has an expectation of who you should be, so they name you Courage but you’re cowardly, they name you ‘writer’ but you like to cook, they name you ‘bad guy’ but you really didn’t do anything, they name you ‘social’ but you’d rather be alone, they call you a monk because your head is bald but you’d rather be a charismatic.
This is especially a big deal when you’re gifted or skilled at more than one thing because different people look up to you for different reasons, but you can choose! And you should choose who you want to be, what you want to be known for, and what you want to do.
Do this with none of the external influences and you’ll find some happiness and freedom.
Courage did help his owners more than a few times, just not like a regular dog and definitely not in the way they expected him to. He wasn’t courageous, he was paranoid but it turns out that paranoia can be a tool if you own it… and you might get something done.
It’s easy to get lost in expectations but you have to understand that people’s expectations are hardly good for you even when they have good intentions. They just don’t know you like YOU.
Live freely, you owe yourself that.
