When have I been brave?

I am not easily stumped.

I wouldn’t be much help if you asked the secret behind the device that fits in my hand yet gives me access to seemingly all of the world’s information (and bullcrap) while also letting me talk to people, but on most everyday questions, I can probably provide reasonable answers to reasonable questions.

But I saw one the other day that left me with nothing.

”What’s the bravest thing you’ve done?”

Bravery: the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : the quality or state of being brave: COURAGE

— Merriam-Webster

Talking about a time when I was brave is a little awkward, especially considering that part of my philosophy on life is “Those who are, don’t have to tell you.”

If you do something brave, it seems like that’s something other people should talk about, not you.

Beyond that, I realized I’m mostly “brave” in the way a 5-year-old getting a shot is “brave” … except I’m still pretty frightened of needles and I’m a lot older than 5.

Willingness to put yourself in physical danger, either for the good of society (police officer, firefighter, soldier) or some kind of thrill (skydiver, bungee jumper) is a kind of bravery, but I’ve never really been one for that. I generally try to stay out of situations where I could be badly injured or killed.

I’m fortunate that I’ve never had a physical malady worse than pneumonia as a baby and gallstones as an adult, so I’ve never fought a disease, nor have I ever spent large amounts of time with someone who was … and that absolutely is brave in its own way.

OK, so I’m basically a wimp who has been blessed with good health. So be it. But then I got thinking about another form of bravery — the bravery it takes to stand up for something, for someone, to right a wrong … and I couldn’t think of a time I’ve done that, either.

I must confess … I didn’t feel great about it.

The question about bravery came up because Smelly Socks and Garden Peas nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award, and that was one of the five questions.

My pal Becky from Strikeouts + Sprinkles nominated me last July, so I’ll stick with the requisite listing of rules, citing of Okoto Enigma and listing of weird things about me from what I wrote then.

However, I want to thank @AndSmelly for the nomination and answer the rest of her questions.

When you get up in the morning, are you alert and ready to go or sluggish and befuddled? — Once I get my morning orange juice, I’m ready to go.

What subject do you wish you worked harder on at school? — Science

How long have you had your current mobile phone number? — I’ve had a mobile phone for roughly 18 years now, and that’s the only number I remember having, so I’ll say roughly 18 years.

What’s your favorite cartoon? (now or when you were a kid) — “Tom & Jerry” was my jam.

THE PART WHERE I NOMINATE PEOPLE

Last time, I cheated by not nominating anyone, but challenging people to provide at least one link to blogs they liked in the comments.

And if anyone wanted to write a Mystery Blogger Award post, they should consider themselves nominated, or even just answer the questions.

Those still apply, but I will actually single some folks out this time. (And the rest of you should go check out their stuff.)

Dee

Julie

Claudia

Savannah

Vee

Renata

Austin

Cathy

Palm Trees & Loyalties

Sean

QUESTION TIME!

1. Be honest … before coronavirus, how often did you wash your hands for more than 20 seconds at a time?

2. Who is the most-famous person you’ve ever interacted with? Tell us about what happened.

3. What’s one article or blog post you read over and over again? Please provide a link.

4. What’s the best blog you read?

5. Why? No more than that, just … why?

THE BEST OF ME

I haven’t written as much at the start of this year as I did last year, because I wanted to try to write better stuff, even if that meant less of it. I like to think I succeeded with these.

Tales of a bad basketball player — We all have things we’re bad at. This is one of mine, but fortunately, in the grand scheme of things, it’s fairly irrelevant to who I am today.

Back at the desk — I had a stretch where it felt like I couldn’t write because it felt like my brain wasn’t able to process anything. I used clearing off my desk as an opportunity to try and get it back going again.

Getting out of the ‘vacation monastery’ — There has to be something about vacations that we can make part of our everyday lives. I tried to find it. This was part of a collaboration with my pal Renata, and not only is her half of the project a great read, I have to make sure my stuff measures up when I’m working with her.

 

 

 

 

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