Courage | The Absence of Fear?

Courage: "The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear"
-Dictionary.com
In our society courage means facing opposition "without fear."  This mindset is seen everywhere, but is it correct?  Courage in my mind is being afraid but controlling that fear and using to balance fearlessness.
If you contrast having no fear, to having fear, there is a very distinct difference in the way it causes a person to act.  Fearlessness gives a person the strength to overcome fear, but usually results overconfidence.  When someone has fear it holds overconfidence at bay, but causes them to be excessively cautious.  Both can be hurtful on their own, but the chemistry of true courage is a combination of fearlessness and fear.  True courage comes from an equal balance between these two opposite, but equally important forces.
My conclusion is that courage is incomplete without fear.  Without it, courage would evolve into overconfidence, that would subdue caution, inevitably ending in foolish behavior.  I'm not sure if its possible to be courageous without fear acting as a protection from making rash decisions.      
Our society has put an incorrect label on fear and fails to recognize it as an important part of courage.  They think that fear shows weakness, but rather the absence of fear is weakness.

Overcoming The Greatest Trials Through Writing | Extended Thoughts

A couple days ago I made a post about writing and how it has helped me so much in the past weeks.  I'm not sure if I gave a complete explanation of how I did it, so this post is meant to be my extended explanation of the subject.
I began with a blank document and wrote as fast as I could about what I felt.  I didn't worry about spelling, grammar, nothing. When I finished I had a very messy document loaded with my emotions.  I read through it a few times and fixed any grammatical errors while being careful not to change the core meaning.  Then, I opened a separate document and began copying and pasting bits from the first document, to the second.  These small pieces I arranged together into a paragraph that flowed and made sense.  After I was finished I had a paragraph describing my problem written strait from my heart.
Writing the paragraph allowed me to explain my problem in a way that made me think about things like, why is this happening and why do I feel this way?  Most of the time you don't think about that sort of stuff in the heat of the moment.  I find myself saying "that's just the way it is".  But no, there is reason behind it.  Nothing happens by coincidence and through writing, I was able to find the reasons why.
It also changed my perspective.  No longer was I looking at it from my point of view, but from a new perspective that allowed me to see in ways that I was blind.  All the time I fall into the trap of believing that I can already see everything from my standpoint, but in reality all I can see is one dimension of the three dimensional object.
My words have only given you a tiny drop of what can be discovered through writing.  It may seem much too simple to be effective, but believe me when I say it works.  Few things in my life have been more helpful than writing in finding meaning during moments of uncertainty 

Overcoming The Greatest Trials Through Writing

Recently I began my first attempt to write a poem of my own.  It's been something I've been dying to do for the past few years but I've never felt comfortable doing it.  So about I week ago I finally got over my fear and forced myself to do it.
The topic I decided upon was one that had been troubling me for quite some time.  The gist of the problem was that every day I felt like I was being consumed by myself (figuratively speaking).  Every time I looked in the mirror I would have voices in my head criticize, my hopes, dreams, who I was etc.  My mind would bring back the voices and words of people who had mocked me in the past.  The torment became so unbearable that I began having trouble sleeping.  I knew this had to stop, but I had no idea how.

One night as I was getting ready for bed my thoughts turned to something my Mother had told me.  She said that the greatest problems can be broken down through writing.  I already knew what I needed to write about.  Here is what I came up with.

I hear their voices,

Soundless in my mind.

I feel their presence,

The demons inside my head.

They, mock, tease, torment.

I feel their laughing eyes,

Penetrating my heart.

They know me better than I know myself.

My hopes, dreams, fears.

They feed on what I hold dear,

Consuming me.

I try to hide.

I cannot hide from myself.

The other day I was watching a video on lds.org; the one I had seen so many times I had practically memorized the entire film.  Usually my mind wanders, but this time it didn't.  As I watched I noticed the part where Jesus casts the devil out of the young boy.  This may seem like a little bit of a stretch, but I felt like he could do the same for me.  Of course, the breed of demons I'm experiencing are slightly different but the principle remains the same.  

By writing I was able to see my problem in a new light.  It allowed me to make connections that helped me identify a solution.  My solution was Christ.  Although I was left empty and desolate, I knew that I could become whole again through his everlasting love.
In summary, whenever you have something going on in your life that is troubling you, write about it.  It may seem like a stupid thing to do, and I certainly thought so at first; but when you do it will make all the difference.  Writing is a tool, or a key rather, to overcoming the greatest trials you will ever face.