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Bravery: It’s not just about the zombies

NaBloPoMo November 2012 Prompt
Tuesday, November 13, 2012:

What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

I always joke that in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I’d be the useless one crying and cowering in the corner rather than fighting to save others and defend myself against the hordes of undead.

So really, I don’t tend to think of myself as a particularly brave person.

I go out of my way to avoid potentially dangerous situations. I stay away from sketchy areas of town, and I don’t go out for walks at night by myself. I secure all of the doors and windows in the house, make sure the oven and range are turned off when not in use, and make a second round at night to double-check that I remembered everything the first time.

And, though it doesn’t help one little bit, I worry. I worry about gun violence, I worry about muggings, I worry about house fires. (It may relieve you to know that I worry slightly less about zombies!) I worry, because I never want to find myself in a situation where I am forced to test my bravery (or lack thereof).

But perhaps I’m looking at bravery from a too narrow perspective.

It’s been suggested that the decision to make a permanent move across the country to a city we’d never even visited… that making the effort to push past my shyness and insecurities in order to develop brand new friendships… that challenging my own status quo and refashioning my life into something more satisfying involves a certain degree of bravery.

So maybe it’s not all about the zombies!

What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.