Today’s prompt is

How are you brave?

brave (adjective)
“ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage”

“having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty“

“showing no fear of dangerous or difficult things”

Let’s just set some context here. I am a middle-aged woman, living in a pleasant part of North West England, with little call to stray into “rough” areas. I had a comfortable upbringing, loving parents and supportive teachers. I was a well behaved child and teenager. Opportunities to be brave did not present themselves on a regular basis. They still don’t. This is generally a good thing, but I often feel that this might have made me soft. Lacking grit. Stuck in the comfort zone.

I have previously sought situations that put me outside that comfort zone:

• rock climbing in my twenties;
• learning to play bass guitar and gigging with a band in my thirties;
• changing career just before turning forty;
• opting for early retirement (although I did not realise how uncomfortable this would be at the time).

I suppose that these required some degree of bravery, but how about now? Do I rationalise a less daring existence as self-preservation? These days I certainly wouldn’t jump at the chance to scale Derbyshire grit outcrops, or play to a paying audience.

Have I made my final big lifestyle leap? Will I tread water until I am no more?

It’s interesting to consider the paradox of life vs. death. Surely, it is only by knowing that we have a finite time on earth that makes us feel alive, and drives us to really live. And does that imply that we need to be brave to achieve our best life?

But I digress.

Of the definitions above, I favour the second. It is broader than the others, recognising that bravery requires inner strength, and that it is not necessary to be demonstrative to be brave.

Being brave can be a very private matter, with no need for a badge or t-shirt. And this probably encompasses my preferred approach to bravery these days. Quiet perseverance in difficult times, rather than shouting “Tally ho!” as I enter the lion’s den.

So, that’s how I am brave.

More later,

Min.