Many of your “negative” feelings such as fear are your body’s way of trying to protect you from danger.
There are innate ones, experienced ones, and learned one.
Most of the time, these feelings make sense and serve you. Such as, I don’t need to experience jumping into a volcano, to be learn that it’s a bad idea.
Sometimes, you have a bad experience, and it colors all your future experiences. Such as, a dog bit you once as a kid, and now you react negatively towards dogs.
The point is to convey that you are empowered to re-write your reactions and feelings, if you choose to, so that it serves you. Whatever reason; not wanting to live with that fear, wanting to enjoy cute nice dogs, is up to you.
That’s courage. You are receiving these (valid) danger signals from your body, but you are doing hard work to re-teach yourself that things are ok. It’s looks different for everybody. For some people who struggle with eating, having breakfast takes courage. For some people who struggle with anxiety, going outside takes courage. Recognizing how courage shows up in your day to day life can empower you too.
With courage comes empathy.