What are the bravest things you have done? Celebrate your courage!

Gráinne · 02-28-2013, 05:53 PM

Hi, all:

A thread on courage on another board I belong to made me think we could do the same thing here.

Of course, we're all brave as hell, just for coming out however and how much we have. Many of us don't exactly live in friendly climes, but we stand up and be ourselves anyway. We attend Reunion or a bash, when it feels like everyone's going to be staring at you but you learn that you're not alone by a long shot. We transition. Joining here can be a huge act of courage, and for many, we're the only community there is. You speak up and approach someone, or ask them to dance. We're all courageous, wherever we are on our journeys.

What I mean are things that you've done that were adventures, "what the hell" moments, chances you took (whether or not they worked out)-it's in the chancing, not the outcome. What have you done?

And no "It's a small thing", or "I'm dull, haven't done anything", or "I'm not brave". Knock that off.

For me, going to China with twelve strangers to teach English for a summer. I didn't speak a word of Chinese, nor was I a trained teacher. I had to give lessons to 200 students (all young adults, not kids), and taught them the Electric Slide and the Pata Pata, in addition to teaching my class of 16 young women.

I was a life model for art classes when I was in college. It paid well, I got to sleep,and the students saw something in my body that I surely didn't see. That was enlightening.

Rockinonahigh · 02-28-2013, 06:19 PM

I'm not shure this was brave but an act of despration..wen't to college at 55 after not picking up a book that didnt have to do with some equine relater information...I graduated to.
The most foolish thing I ever did was stand between a rageing fool of a stud hell bent on savageing a mare and her new born foal.I still to this day have no idea how he managed to get out of his stall two barns away,I met him with an ax handle between the eye's knocked him out cold.Yes other people were comeing to help but they wouldnt have got there on time about 30 seconds to late.I still to this day have bad dreams once in a while about it.

TheMerryFairy · 02-28-2013, 06:33 PM

I think for me, simply put following my dreams. I have endured a lot of challenges and roadblocks but I'm not giving up the goals and expectations I have set for myself.

It takes a lot of courage to embrace who you are and to stand up for what is best for you. Sometimes that means doing what you have to do without guilt. I am reconnecting with the parts of me I lost here and there and I refuse to let somebody else decide who I am and how I should do things.

JustBeingMe · 02-28-2013, 07:05 PM

Well, this was stupid of me because it could have killed me but I wasn't thinking of myself. When I was 18 I worked in automotive at a shop. While at work one day, a young man brought in a brand spanking new car for it's first oil change. He put it on a split rack, where the arms to lift the vehicle slide sideways under the car, he did that, and lifted it in the air. He was changing the break-in oil, first oil change for this car had less than 500 miles on it. While he was under the car and I was way across the shop, I heard a guy screaming HELP!! HELP!! I turned and scanned the shop, and saw the car falling off the rack nose diving front end first because the rack had slide out in front and inward in the back making a V formation under the car; and the kid was holding the car up trying to keep it from falling. I ran straight across the shop screaming at him to get out from under the car, let it go!! He kept holding it up and was fading fast. I actually full on tackled the kid an knocked him out of the way from under the car with all I could muster up in my strength and the power of physics in motion. The car fell right behind us as we landed on the floor up against the wall of the next stall over. The poor kid was so scared he literally was shaking in fear and shit his pants. He was sent home for the day needless to say. It took 2 cherry picker tow trucks to get the car off the rack. We had to close the doors to public but the Owner of the car saw it fall from inside the store and ran out yelling MY CAR! MY BRAND NEW CAR!! It was a woman and she was pissed to say the least. I had to go into the office with the kid and explain to management how it happened. He was fired that day. Me, I just freaked out that I was able to do something so unthinking I asked for hte rest of the day off. I got it. Nothing happened physically to us but a few cuts and scratches from sliding across the floor. Is this a true story I am telling you, YES it is. I worked for Sears automotive back then. They had to purchase a new car for the woman, and she never came back to Sears for any work, and I don't blame her. I am just lucky and must of had angels with me that day because we both could of been killed. I should have done something else, but wasn't thinking of anything but get that other kid out of the way from under that car, he was too scared to let go and none of the guys in the shop heard him until after I hit him with all my might in a forward tackle.That day, there was just too much going on in the shop for anyone to hear him with all the power tools going and machines running; but somehow I heard him that day, and I guess I am kinda glad I did, he might have died that day if the car had fallen on him. You know it's amazing what happens to human strength when faced in horrid situations. It's all the adrenalin going that makes for super human strength sometimes. You hear stories about it all the time here and there. But I've witnessed it first hand, that kid holding that car and he wasn't that big, kinda small after I think about him. It's something that's never left my mind ever. It's been here logged in my memory since I was 18 and I am now 49 turning 50 this year. I haven't really told this story much, because it still kinda haunts me.

StrongButch · 02-28-2013, 07:30 PM

I am a member of American Indian Movement and fought for womens rights,gay rights in the 70s and 80s and continue to do so today. I have sat in the middle of the street to stop traffic etc. I want to know once I leave here I did everything possible to make this world a better place for everyone. Where you are free to love and marry who you want,get equal pay and to return the land that is sacred to my people. Keep fighting everyone.

Girl_On_Fire · 02-28-2013, 10:27 PM

Moving out on my own at 17 even though I'd never been parented.
Moving to North Carolina on a whim.
Leaving the abusive relationship in North Carolina and coming back to my home state where I am now, at the age of 33, finally being parented.
Starting my own business.
Writing this list.

TheMerryFairy · 02-28-2013, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girl_On_Fire

Moving out on my own at 17 even though I'd never been parented.
Moving to North Carolina on a whim.
Leaving the abusive relationship in North Carolina and coming back to my home state where I am now, at the age of 33, finally being parented.
Starting my own business.
Writing this list.

It seems, we have a lot in common. I moved out after highschool when it became apparent that my family wasn't supporting my choices in career or lifestyle. I spent a lot of time backpacking on my own and even though sometimes I didn't always have what I needed, they were some of the most liberating experiences of my life.

Good luck starting/continuing your business! I am hoping that this traveling barber promotion project will lead to me one day having my own shop.

I think it is certainly brave of you to share your thoughts with us so thank you!

Dance-with-me · 02-28-2013, 11:20 PM

Moving to where I live now when I had no friends/support system and no job here, just a strong sense that this is where I was meant to be. The jobs appeared, the support system is still light but solid.

Leaving an abusive relationship, even when it meant losing the grandchildren I'd raised.

Making the firm decision to let happiness and joy in my life and letting go of enabling.

Agreeing to meet the butch who is now, I am certain, the love of my life.

Riding on the luggage rack of a fast-moving Turkish dolmuş (a minibus that runs like a cross between taxi and a bus) on a winding mountain road. Oh, wait, that wasn't brave, that was just being a damn fool teenager.

always2late · 03-01-2013, 12:34 AM

Leaving my son's father with my year old son, no money, and no idea what was going to happen to us....just knowing I had to go.

Going back to school in my forties so that I can start over...again.

Miss Scarlett · 03-01-2013, 09:29 AM

Standing up to the abusive husband of the attorney I was working for at the time when he came to the office (with two of his teammates, also NFL players) looking for her the morning after severely beating her...

Leaving my own abusive relationships...

Losing weight, keeping off what I've lost so far and continuing on the path to a healthier me...

Going into counseling to "fix" me...

Being myself...

justanolecowboy · 03-01-2013, 10:30 AM

I would like to think I've done a lot of "brave" things - we all would - and most of us have -

Following dreams
leaving abusive partners
starting a business
moving to a different place
having a job that requires at least a modicum of bravery and courage on some level - regardless of how scared you might be
new jobs
staying with an old job
hanging tough - when the road seems so long
we all do a hundred brave and courageous things a day - for ourselves or for someone else...

(for me) - I think one of the bravest things I've ever done (myself) - or indeed maybe for any guy who has been in my shoes - when he sees that woman that takes his breath away - is to have the courage to say simply "hello" ... trust me - it takes guts - when they are so beautiful - and they (do) indeed take your breath away ... you know...your pulse is racing - your hands are sweaty - the blood is racing through your body - and you feel all just - well you don't know what you feel inside - because she has caused such a stir within you ...

So - yes - i was "brave" enough to say hello - and you know what? (of course you do ...) - she said "hello" back - and... I will forever remember that moment ... for it changed my life for the better (forever).

So - take heart - be brave in all you do - undertake....be courageous for yourself...you'll never regret it.

03-01-2013, 10:45 AM

I'm so lucky I've never had to leave abusive partners or the like.

Got sober 1986 for 17yrs
Got sober 2012 for 1yr and counting.
Earned a living standing up in front of folks singing - too skeered and old to do it now.
Back packed through Morocco on my first trip 'abroad' with nary a word of Arabic and very limited French to communicate.

I believe I was brave upon falling through an abandoned factory's soggy floor, 50ft up. Thankfully the good ole starfish move saved me and the day. However the guy who watched me fall managed to throw up. Wuss!

Not so sure I've been so brave otherwise.

Glenn · 03-01-2013, 12:49 PM

I don't remember who held a gun to my head and forced me into doing what I did for a living

For 13 years I lived in and managed a 41 unit apartment building for a slumlord, in one of the worst neighborhoods in Chicago. I've had to call 911 nearly everyday, and had to take care of "things" that made even Chicago cops get sick, and "things" community leaders did'nt want to think about. I will leave it at that.

02-28-2013, 05:53 PM	#1
Gráinne Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Neither, nada, out of the box Preferred Pronoun?: My name always works Relationship Status: Happy whatever happens Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,818 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,011 Thanked 7,246 Times in 1,416 Posts Rep Power: 21474851	What are the bravest things you have done? Celebrate your courage! Hi, all: A thread on courage on another board I belong to made me think we could do the same thing here. Of course, we're all brave as hell, just for coming out however and how much we have. Many of us don't exactly live in friendly climes, but we stand up and be ourselves anyway. We attend Reunion or a bash, when it feels like everyone's going to be staring at you but you learn that you're not alone by a long shot. We transition. Joining here can be a huge act of courage, and for many, we're the only community there is. You speak up and approach someone, or ask them to dance. We're all courageous, wherever we are on our journeys. What I mean are things that you've done that were adventures, "what the hell" moments, chances you took (whether or not they worked out)-it's in the chancing, not the outcome. What have you done? And no "It's a small thing", or "I'm dull, haven't done anything", or "I'm not brave". Knock that off. For me, going to China with twelve strangers to teach English for a summer. I didn't speak a word of Chinese, nor was I a trained teacher. I had to give lessons to 200 students (all young adults, not kids), and taught them the Electric Slide and the Pata Pata, in addition to teaching my class of 16 young women. I was a life model for art classes when I was in college. It paid well, I got to sleep,and the students saw something in my body that I surely didn't see. That was enlightening. __________________ The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one. ~Erma Bombeck

02-28-2013, 07:05 PM	#4
JustBeingMe Senior Member How Do You Identify?: as ME Relationship Status: I don't need no stinking status. Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: somewhere you're not..... Posts: 1,808 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,961 Thanked 1,691 Times in 694 Posts Rep Power: 12813868	Well, this was stupid of me because it could have killed me but I wasn't thinking of myself. When I was 18 I worked in automotive at a shop. While at work one day, a young man brought in a brand spanking new car for it's first oil change. He put it on a split rack, where the arms to lift the vehicle slide sideways under the car, he did that, and lifted it in the air. He was changing the break-in oil, first oil change for this car had less than 500 miles on it. While he was under the car and I was way across the shop, I heard a guy screaming HELP!! HELP!! I turned and scanned the shop, and saw the car falling off the rack nose diving front end first because the rack had slide out in front and inward in the back making a V formation under the car; and the kid was holding the car up trying to keep it from falling. I ran straight across the shop screaming at him to get out from under the car, let it go!! He kept holding it up and was fading fast. I actually full on tackled the kid an knocked him out of the way from under the car with all I could muster up in my strength and the power of physics in motion. The car fell right behind us as we landed on the floor up against the wall of the next stall over. The poor kid was so scared he literally was shaking in fear and shit his pants. He was sent home for the day needless to say. It took 2 cherry picker tow trucks to get the car off the rack. We had to close the doors to public but the Owner of the car saw it fall from inside the store and ran out yelling MY CAR! MY BRAND NEW CAR!! It was a woman and she was pissed to say the least. I had to go into the office with the kid and explain to management how it happened. He was fired that day. Me, I just freaked out that I was able to do something so unthinking I asked for hte rest of the day off. I got it. Nothing happened physically to us but a few cuts and scratches from sliding across the floor. Is this a true story I am telling you, YES it is. I worked for Sears automotive back then. They had to purchase a new car for the woman, and she never came back to Sears for any work, and I don't blame her. I am just lucky and must of had angels with me that day because we both could of been killed. I should have done something else, but wasn't thinking of anything but get that other kid out of the way from under that car, he was too scared to let go and none of the guys in the shop heard him until after I hit him with all my might in a forward tackle.That day, there was just too much going on in the shop for anyone to hear him with all the power tools going and machines running; but somehow I heard him that day, and I guess I am kinda glad I did, he might have died that day if the car had fallen on him. You know it's amazing what happens to human strength when faced in horrid situations. It's all the adrenalin going that makes for super human strength sometimes. You hear stories about it all the time here and there. But I've witnessed it first hand, that kid holding that car and he wasn't that big, kinda small after I think about him. It's something that's never left my mind ever. It's been here logged in my memory since I was 18 and I am now 49 turning 50 this year. I haven't really told this story much, because it still kinda haunts me. __________________ Nothing more, Nothing less, I'm Just Being Me

02-28-2013, 07:30 PM	#5
StrongButch Member How Do You Identify?: I see the world thru a lens Preferred Pronoun?: Yes Boss Relationship Status: Chillin out with awesome women Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: San Francisco Posts: 1,376 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,018 Thanked 4,185 Times in 1,179 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	Bravest I am a member of American Indian Movement and fought for womens rights,gay rights in the 70s and 80s and continue to do so today. I have sat in the middle of the street to stop traffic etc. I want to know once I leave here I did everything possible to make this world a better place for everyone. Where you are free to love and marry who you want,get equal pay and to return the land that is sacred to my people. Keep fighting everyone. __________________ Life is like music,so it can be played in many different styles.

02-28-2013, 10:27 PM	#6
Girl_On_Fire Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She, Her Relationship Status: On Hiatus Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 690 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,020 Thanked 2,683 Times in 562 Posts Rep Power: 21474848	Moving out on my own at 17 even though I'd never been parented. Moving to North Carolina on a whim. Leaving the abusive relationship in North Carolina and coming back to my home state where I am now, at the age of 33, finally being parented. Starting my own business. Writing this list. __________________ "Quit trying to reason with unreasonable people. It's like trying to have a meaningful conversation with an end table." ~ Girl_On_Fire

02-28-2013, 11:20 PM	#8
Dance-with-me Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: earth Posts: 419 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 264 Thanked 1,926 Times in 378 Posts Rep Power: 21474848	Moving to where I live now when I had no friends/support system and no job here, just a strong sense that this is where I was meant to be. The jobs appeared, the support system is still light but solid. Leaving an abusive relationship, even when it meant losing the grandchildren I'd raised. Making the firm decision to let happiness and joy in my life and letting go of enabling. Agreeing to meet the butch who is now, I am certain, the love of my life. Riding on the luggage rack of a fast-moving Turkish dolmuş (a minibus that runs like a cross between taxi and a bus) on a winding mountain road. Oh, wait, that wasn't brave, that was just being a damn fool teenager. __________________ Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~Mahatma Gandhi

02-28-2013, 06:19 PM	#2
Rockinonahigh Senior Member How Do You Identify?: stone butch Preferred Pronoun?: makes no diffrence,I know who I am. Relationship Status: single,maybe looking if the right person comes along. Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: shreveport,Louisiana Posts: 4,907 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,682 Thanked 14,937 Times in 3,936 Posts Rep Power: 21474855	I'm not shure this was brave but an act of despration..wen't to college at 55 after not picking up a book that didnt have to do with some equine relater information...I graduated to. The most foolish thing I ever did was stand between a rageing fool of a stud hell bent on savageing a mare and her new born foal.I still to this day have no idea how he managed to get out of his stall two barns away,I met him with an ax handle between the eye's knocked him out cold.Yes other people were comeing to help but they wouldnt have got there on time about 30 seconds to late.I still to this day have bad dreams once in a while about it.

02-28-2013, 06:33 PM	#3
TheMerryFairy Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Pansexual/Sapiosexual femmey dyke who likes to crossdress now and then Preferred Pronoun?: She/her OR ze if I'm crossdressing Relationship Status: Floating and walking My path, happy in life. Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: On my Merry Fairy way! , Canada Posts: 3,630 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 8,727 Thanked 8,694 Times in 2,987 Posts Rep Power: 21474851	I think for me, simply put following my dreams. I have endured a lot of challenges and roadblocks but I'm not giving up the goals and expectations I have set for myself. It takes a lot of courage to embrace who you are and to stand up for what is best for you. Sometimes that means doing what you have to do without guilt. I am reconnecting with the parts of me I lost here and there and I refuse to let somebody else decide who I am and how I should do things.

03-01-2013, 12:34 AM	#9
always2late Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: m'lady Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: NJ Posts: 2,000 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,834 Thanked 6,231 Times in 1,462 Posts Rep Power: 21474853	Leaving my son's father with my year old son, no money, and no idea what was going to happen to us....just knowing I had to go. Going back to school in my forties so that I can start over...again. __________________ Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there ~ Rumi

03-01-2013, 09:29 AM	#10
Miss Scarlett Infamous Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Relationship Status: . Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: . Posts: 5,530 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,478 Thanked 12,949 Times in 3,419 Posts Rep Power: 21474856	Standing up to the abusive husband of the attorney I was working for at the time when he came to the office (with two of his teammates, also NFL players) looking for her the morning after severely beating her... Leaving my own abusive relationships... Losing weight, keeping off what I've lost so far and continuing on the path to a healthier me... Going into counseling to "fix" me... Being myself...

03-01-2013, 10:30 AM	#11
justanolecowboy Member How Do You Identify?: ftm Preferred Pronoun?: He Relationship Status: committed. Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: IL Posts: 493 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,110 Thanked 1,957 Times in 458 Posts Rep Power: 21474850	I would like to think I've done a lot of "brave" things - we all would - and most of us have - Following dreams leaving abusive partners starting a business moving to a different place having a job that requires at least a modicum of bravery and courage on some level - regardless of how scared you might be new jobs staying with an old job hanging tough - when the road seems so long we all do a hundred brave and courageous things a day - for ourselves or for someone else... (for me) - I think one of the bravest things I've ever done (myself) - or indeed maybe for any guy who has been in my shoes - when he sees that woman that takes his breath away - is to have the courage to say simply "hello" ... trust me - it takes guts - when they are so beautiful - and they (do) indeed take your breath away ... you know...your pulse is racing - your hands are sweaty - the blood is racing through your body - and you feel all just - well you don't know what you feel inside - because she has caused such a stir within you ... So - yes - i was "brave" enough to say hello - and you know what? (of course you do ...) - she said "hello" back - and... I will forever remember that moment ... for it changed my life for the better (forever). So - take heart - be brave in all you do - undertake....be courageous for yourself...you'll never regret it. __________________

03-01-2013, 10:45 AM	#12
Daktari Guest Tournaments Won: 1 Posts: n/a My Photo Gallery	I'm so lucky I've never had to leave abusive partners or the like. Got sober 1986 for 17yrs Got sober 2012 for 1yr and counting. Earned a living standing up in front of folks singing - too skeered and old to do it now. Back packed through Morocco on my first trip 'abroad' with nary a word of Arabic and very limited French to communicate. I believe I was brave upon falling through an abandoned factory's soggy floor, 50ft up. Thankfully the good ole starfish move saved me and the day. However the guy who watched me fall managed to throw up. Wuss! Not so sure I've been so brave otherwise.

03-01-2013, 12:49 PM	#13
Glenn Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Northwest Wind and Lake Michigan Preferred Pronoun?: Paesano Relationship Status: Solo Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Posts: 1,546 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 3,597 Thanked 3,732 Times in 1,096 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	I don't remember who held a gun to my head and forced me into doing what I did for a living For 13 years I lived in and managed a 41 unit apartment building for a slumlord, in one of the worst neighborhoods in Chicago. I've had to call 911 nearly everyday, and had to take care of "things" that made even Chicago cops get sick, and "things" community leaders did'nt want to think about. I will leave it at that.