Was This Bravery

What is bravery? A quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear.

What is courage? The ability to do something that frightens one, the strength in the face of pain.

Okay, so they could be interchangable at times and sometimes they can be both or one in the same. I believe that bravery means different things to different people.

Brave are the soldiers that fight a war they didn’t start. Brave is a child battling cancer when they haven’t had a chance to live. Brave is a person that risks their life to helps someone.

Brave is trying to do something you are sure you can’t do because someone else believes in you when you don’t believe in yourself.

Brave is speaking up when your friends think you should keep your mouth closed.

I thought and thought for two weeks on what I was going to write on this paper. I can honestly say that I do not believe there is anything in my life that I have done that was brave. It was either because I had to, or I had to prove a point, or because life was throwing me something I had to handle, or it was just plain something stupid I did.


Was I brave when I was growing up and the kids picked on me because I was poor or because I was big? Or was that just trying to make it in a very difficult world.

Was I brave when I jumped out of a second story window because I thought I was Zorro, or was that just stupid.

Or how about the time I went to Disney World my two girls and they decided I needed to ride the Mt Everest with them. They knew I am not crazy about the dark, and they knew I don’t like roller coaster rides.

“But it is only a short one,” Tammy said.

“It isn’t that dark, Mom, and it doesn’t even go in the dark like space mountain does,” Carrie said with that serious expression on her face when she is trying to convince me of something. “And besides, you want to see the Yeti don’t you?”

Now seriously how can you disappoint your children no matter how old they are, so off we went to stand in line. I looked at all the exhibits on the walk through. I watched everyone getting exciting and talking how wonderful this was and how they had been on it 15 times, and on and on and on.

With a bit of hesitation, I got into the last seat on the left and Tammy got in on the right. Carrie was sitting in the seat in front of us with some guy on her right and off we went. The climb up wasn’t bad, I was comfortable, my bar was across in front of me and we slowly progressed into the cave opening on the side of the mountain and that was the last thing I remember.

We shot off like a bullet, down an embankment, around a sharp curve, I swear we didn’t stay on the track, no way could they bend a track around that sharp. Down another incline, up another, around another curve.

And when we finally got to the Yeti, of which I didn’t see by the way, he scared the ride so bad it went backwards over the same track for a bit before we went forewards again. Can you even begin to imagine what doing that same track backward is like? Going forwards at least if I throw up, it lands on my feet or the person in front of me, but backwards and half upside down coming back down off those slopes, I throw up on myself.

Forewards again, break neck speed around the curves and downhill head first. I couldn’t see where I was going, and I felt without a doubt that I was going to be dumped right out of that seat.

Wrong Carrie, it was dark in there. And wrong, Tammy, it was not a short ride, I didn’t think it would ever end. Or it would end and I wouldn’t know it because I didn’t live through it. You ask why I didn’t see the Yeti? To be honest I don’t know if my eyes were closed, or my mouth was open so wide screaming that it screenched up my eyes so I couldn’t see past my mouth.

The whole thing finally stopped. I opened my eyes, and though I was unbelievably shaking I still managed to stand up and started to crawl over Tammy to get out because she was taking way too long.

To add insult to injury as we were walking away the “guy” that sat next to Carrie said to her, “I am going back on again so I can see the ride this time. I was enjoying your mother so much that I missed out on the ride.”

Once again, brave??? I don’t think so, more like stupid to me.