Someone commented to me that I am a formidable person. Formidable is one of those words that might be offered as a compliment, but it has a double edge. I do not like the idea that I am considered fearsome. I prefer awesome, tremendous and being difficult to defeat. But formidable I suppose I am. I am willful and strong in this way. I hope to teach my sons to be formidable. It is a good character trait. Can it be taught? I think formidable is the amalgam of impulsivity and courage. Swing too far toward impulsivity and you miss formiable and simply end up with reckless and dangerous. As a woman of forty something, formidable is not to shabby. But is may also be a polite way to say that I am one scary, crazy broad. Worth some discernment.