In what ways are you brave? In what ways are you not?

I am braze in defense of my family and loved ones.

I am not brave around spiders.

@marinelife I am the world’s biggest coward around spiders as well (if they’re contained in a jar or something, then they’re fascinating, but loose in my house-Oh, no!) I’m also not brave about talking to people who I am smitten with.

Bravery, hmm…going back to school after twenty years, sticking up for someone I care about when someone else is giving them a hard time…

I can drive the tollways of Chicago in rush hour but the thought of my MIL coming over makes me want to run to the closet and hide!

@Mariah Call me next time you hit the road so I can get OFF the road!
I’m not brave about a lot of things, but I do them anyway.

I was the best at playing Slap and a champion Water player. Maybe I’ll see about finding the old gang for a rematch some 25 years later.

I do get a little scared when my rights try to be taken away from me, like my right of when I could turn my lights on and off. I do face them, though, by refusing to take part in nonsensicle turn your lights off when we say events.

I’m 34 and still don’t have a driving licence. I don’t even like crossing the road.

So what am I brave at? Not sure, I’m very confidant in myself, if people meet me I’m fine if they like or hate me, there are people I’m sure think I’m odd but I really don’t care, I’m just Denver. Is that brave? I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think of it more as apathy.

I’m brave enough to speak up when in need, to try my best to get what I want and to stand up for myself and the ones I love.
I’m not so brave when it comes to opening up to people and talking about my thoughts and feelings.

@queenie It’s funny, but your post sums up very well how I am. I’m not so good at speaking up for myself or approaching others on my own behalf, but the moment someone else needs defending or needs my help, those feelings of apprehension go down the drain…

I have a moral imperative to do the right thing no matter how much trouble I may be getting into. I just take a deep breath and let the chips fall where they may.

I hate spiders but I’ve learned how to trap and release them outside I know they probably come right back in again but I just cannot kill them

I’m not great when it comes to opening up to others. Talking about my personal thoughts and feelings scares me
I’m brave when it comes to other stuff

I’m tough and unshakable in the face of danger and death, but something as simple as my phone vibrating in my pocket sends me into a panic.

I’ve defended friends from wild, rabid animals, told creepers to GTFO by being alpha as fuck, and fireman-carried sick girls into the ER before without breaking a sweat, but for some reason, the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket freaks the hell out of me. Oh yeah, and the dentist makes me cry.

Let’s review:

Coyote circling my friends and I hungrily while foaming at the mouth?

Dropped it in the nick of time.

Creepy gang-banger type grabs my lady friend’s ass at a club?

Told him he’d rue the day he decided to get fresh with her.

Good friend calls me crying saying all her bones hurt and she can’t move?

Haul her into the ER running on 2 hours of sleep in 2 days.

Phone rings?

ZOMG WHAT DO I DO?

Dentist appointment?

Cry myself to sleep and become Christian again for a day or two so I can pray to God that I don’t have any cavities.

I weird myself out sometimes.

I live my gay life completely out of the closet.

I have a phobia of parking lots. I can’t explain it. I simply hate them.

@hawaii_jake Me too, I absolutely hate parking lots! I’ve never told anyone that before.
Hello I’m Chyna and I have a phobia/hatred of parking lots.

Hi, Chyna, we’re glad you’re here.

I get around my phobia by carefully planning my route through the parking lot to the area where I know I’ll have the least amount of trouble finding easy parking. I tend to go to the same area every time, and I tend to park rather far from my destination.

If it involves talking to people, even over the phone, I get nervous (Unless it’s really important).
I’m brave when it comes to food. I don’t get disgusted, even if there’s someone else’s hair in my food. Movies, too. In fact, if people say it’s the most disturbing film they have ever seen, I want to watch it!
I guess my bravest moment was when I was alone in a subway train heading home at midnight.

That reminds me, I have to watch “A Serbian FIlm”...

Like @tranquilsea, I feel compelled to do the right thing even when it’s hard. I’m also a champ when it comes to pain, as long as I know it’s coming. I’ve had three children without epidurals, had an amniocentesis and some spots cut off my body (including getting stitches) with no anesthesia, and routinely get my teeth worked on with no novocaine.

I’m a total wimp if the pain is unexpected, though. Poke me, and I bruise. My skin has been burned just by being in the oven (not touching anything) and by having my eyebrows waxed (that one left a scar!), and to cook bacon I have to wear long sleeves and oven mitts.

I’m deathly afraid of heights, so no ferris wheel rides for me. And my basement creeps me right out.

I’m the face of bravery when it comes to going to whatever lengths necessary to keep my children out of harms way.

I’m a sissy la la when it comes to even talking about zombies!!!

I am brave in faith, but, when I take a moment to think about it, I may not do the same thing twice.

Sounds like a lot of us have phone/social interaction fears. I sure can sympathize with that.

@Dutchess_III Don’t worry I’m pretty sure I’m never going to get my driver’s lisence. Haha :(
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Dang, you’ve had some pretty badass moments. Was your friend okay?

Thanks to everybody for your replies so far! It seems that for many of you, the impulse to do the right thing or protect people takes over in the face of danger. That’s a wonderful quality to have.

Another thing I remembered I’m not brave about is taking classes when I don’t feel confident in the subject matter.

@Mariah, yep, she was ok. She had a fever of 103.5 and her whole body was shaking. The hospital gave her some tylenol and codeine and told her they didn’t have a clue what it was and sent her home when her fever went down. I spent the whole night on an ottoman watching her sleep on my couch. Every time she’d wake up crying, I’d get her medicine or something to drink. The next day, she was totally fine. The human body is weird. 0_o

What would scare someone about driving?

@Dutchess_III, oh, you knowww….

Yes. But how come that doesn’t freak ME out when I get behind the wheel? I mean, it does, but…..

@Dutchess_III, I dunno, I’m sure there are things that scare you that other people don’t understand.

I’m pretty brave about most things if I have to do said things, Spiders I am not brave about, naked fear. Also I’m really nervous about traffic circles. I think I know what I’m supposed to do but I don’t want to.

@Dutchess_III Driving is the most dangerous thing your average person ever does! It also doesn’t help that I attempted my road test, was so nervous that I drove like shit, and got screamed at for five minutes by the grumpiest DMV lady you can imagine.

not the best example of not brave I’d say… as Dutchess III notes Driving Is Dangerous !! so it’s just smart to be on high alert when driving. In the face of the real dangers it’s somewhat brave to drive. Most drivers are sufficiently numbed by the regular experience of that they imagine they have bandwidth to text and chat and goof off on the road. They don’t, they’re just lucky so far.
“Brave” is used is some various ways, but IMHO often is hung off an action that saved the day but didn’t necessarily require a transcendent act of will to do the day-saving thing in spite of huge fears. Most of the actions I’ve had the privilege to take in critical circumstances may have been critical and difficult but they were so utterly obvious I couldn’t have done anything else. Even if I’m proud of doing the right thing in the moment I wouldn’t call many of them brave they were just correct judgement.
For a lot of us saying “I love you” to someone special for the first time is very very brave as the vulnerability of the situation can pack some huge fears. It can be even braver to say “I don’t love you anymore” in circumstances that will probably turn (more) painful quickly after you say it.
I used to lie about embarrassing mistakes because of bad shame paradigms installed at early ages. Oddly the fallout is much worse even over a petty matter as it’s even more embarrassing to be caught in a lie about a petty mistake than the mistake was. So there’s my unbravest side. My bravest side on a regular basis is probably the getting-stronger response to take a second or two to let the terrified voices in the head calm down when confronted with a mistake then tell the simple truth in the most constructive way possible (i.e. not defensive)

I’m the bravest badass mofo when it comes to defending my kids, I mean I will stop your clock if need be. However, i’m shit scared of flying…..well, crashing anyway. Oh & don’t get me started on wasps, human windmill at turbo speed accompanied by manic girly screams :¬(

Something that didn’t used to bother me scares the hell out of me now…standing on step ladders….I’ve been painting so I forced myself to do it but gaaaaa.