What have you done that is courageous?

[RemyZee]

I'm "collecting courage" today after a week of rumination and baseless social fears and was wondering what have you done that took courage or stories you know about having to be courageous

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I went on a trip although I was scared. It was an amazing experience.

I went to a job interview although I was scared. I got it.

I reached out to an old friend and apologized about something I did a decade ago - turns out she had thought about it all these years too, and she greatly appreciated my apology.

 

[velociraptor]

I'm "collecting courage" today after a week of rumination and baseless social fears and was wondering what have you done that took courage or stories you know about having to be courageous

I get out of bed each morning and look the world in the eye, usually before I have had coffee. That counts.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I wish I could have a courageous story of bravery and heroism like being in a major military battle, fighting a grizzly bear with a knife, or slapping the nose of a Great White shark or something like that, but I think I live a pretty average life.

Courage, to me, is being afraid or anxious, and doing it anyways.

1. Traveling to Scotland this past May. My first overseas travel. Had a great time.
2. Investing in stocks a few years ago. I've 5X my money in the past 3 years. Not bad.
3. Every time I leave the hospital on a medical transport to pick up a critically ill infant or child. I never really know what I am going to walk into. A lot of small hospitals do not have the equipment or trained staff to deal with neonatal and pediatric emergencies. I've been dropped into all sorts of situations I wasn't really expecting and then had to react.

 

[Misty Avich]

Went away on a long weekend trip with a large group of strangers, when I was 16. It was a club for teenagers with disabilities/special needs, and my mum signed me up because she thought it'd be a good opportunity for me to make new friends. Her heart was in the right place, but little did either of us know was that everyone in the group were severe, like non-verbal autistic or intellectually disabled or had Downs syndrome so were more immature than me and I felt like I didn't belong. When my parents dropped me off I suddenly realised what it was and I didn't want to go, but someone had already put my suitcase on to the coach so I felt I had no choice. But I felt lonely and scared the whole time, even though the other teenagers weren't scary or anything, but I still felt alone because I didn't know anyone and they weren't really my type. I found myself talking more to the volunteers who helped out, but I still felt lonely. I had to share a room with a girl with Downs syndrome, although she didn't seem to have intellectual delays. But she had diarrhoea a lot, which grossed me out a little (but I didn't say of course). She was nice but I still wasn't sure what to say to her and it felt weird sleeping in the same room as a stranger.

But I still put that down to experience and I'll never do a thing like that again. I'll rather just stick to making friends in the workplace. It feels more natural like that.

 

[Masked Man]

I've done a few things that I consider brave:

1. I went to Paris a few years ago on my own. I don't speak any French other than being able to say hello, thanks, and "do you speak English?" I was terrified but it was fine.

2. I have completed two college degrees. Believe me, when you're at the start of a program, it looks like a mountain. But you just take it one day at a time.

3. I have learned how to bake on my own and I'm pretty good at it. I consider it brave to try something new and be willing to fail for the sake of learning. Every failure is an opportunity to learn what went wrong and improve for next time.

 

[Shevek]

In fell to me to tell the Police that due to rain, 5,000 people marching in the street were going to radically change and shorten the planned route. They objected, but I just added that if they had to arrest us, we'd go quietly.
I went canvassing for signatures after a long period of avoiding people.
I lived in my car for two months looking for a new place to live in a mostly hostile area completely new to me.
Today, I went to the doctor to tell him that so far, his cure had been a hundred times worse than the disease and had not worked at all.
I did many other things that looked brave, but were really foolhardy.

 

[FilterFreq]

I try really hard to not be brave.

Any time I can think of something that felt 'brave' to me that I've done in the past, it also felt like there was a lot at stake with very little to gain, and likewise I'd absolutely never do it again. Even something as simple as 'traditional' employment, 'traditional' dating, etc. I regret ever trying to emulate neurotypicals, because it never went well.

With that said, I'm sure there are things I do all the time that others would consider to be 'brave', but they just feel totally normal to me. My new philosophy is to not argue with my nature, and stop trying to be brave. It's a complete and utter waste of time, with very little payoff.

 

[RemyZee]

I get out of bed each morning and look the world in the eye, usually before I have had coffee. That counts.

That's alot. I go to work every morning and say hello to my boss and that takes courage: he doesn't like autistic people. So continuing on despite when I know I'm operating in an atmosphere of antipathy but have to work anyway. It takes courage. Wow. I sound like the lion in wizard of oz.

 

[NB79]

i survived 10 years with akithisia from benzo withdrawal, doctors in usa etc are recently waking up to the harm those drugs can do with prolonged withdrawals, here people don't believe me and neither the doctors, and other stuff, God gave me strength.

 

[Rocco]

I was in the Navy, off duty, walking into a bar about 20 years ago when I heard muffled screams from a car. I investigated and found in the car there was a guy trying to do something to a woman that was not acceptable anywhere. I ripped open the door and… forcefully detained him with violence until police arrived.
I was reprimanded and admonished for my actions by my military supervisors the next day, which still confuses me. If I had it to do over again I would do much worse while waiting for the police, who let the guy go! She wouldn’t press charges.

 

[AprilR]

Working a job that requires you to be super social and competent. (not sure if this is courageous or simply dumb though)

 

[AuAL]

I was thinking about this - I don’t consider myself a “courageous” person, per se.
But in my mid-thirties, I resigned from my job, sold my house and moved with my wife and three small children to a different city 900 km (500 miles) away, where I had no friends or family, to start a new job. (We’re still here, thirty years later.)

 

[TBRS1]

I became a teacher, and spent 30 years talking to mass numbers of hostile audiences with reasonable success, despite unending social anxiety.

 

[tkcartoonist]

I once took a flight to New York City by myself. Also, while I was there, I rode the subway, by myself, and at night.

 

[Roisin]

Courage for me comes in the times I choose my values over the conventional response. For example making a stand against those holding power/institutions when they weren't delivering what they should be, which was causing myself and others distress.

I think its present each time I take a considered action that involves a personal risk, its not like recklessness, or impulsiveness that are expressions of something else.

Some of my most courageous moments involve active personal growth. Like by starting psychotherapy, I decided to move away from the familiar pain stemming from avoidance and choosing the pain of healing instead.

These were painful years for me, more so than the causes of the CPTSD were. It took courage to keep showing up, knowing the pain that would surface, yet for love I persevered.

I think love inspires a different level of courage.

 

[AprilR]

I became a teacher, and spent 30 years talking to mass numbers of hostile audiences with reasonable success, despite unending social anxiety.

I relate too well. The number of angry and ignorant people i had to deal with at my previous job makes me amazed at myself.

 

[Judge]

I was in the Navy, off duty, walking into a bar about 20 years ago when I heard muffled screams from a car. I investigated and found in the car there was a guy trying to do something to a woman that was not acceptable anywhere. I ripped open the door and… forcefully detained him with violence until police arrived.
I was reprimanded and admonished for my actions by my military supervisors the next day, which still confuses me. If I had it to do over again I would do much worse while waiting for the police, who let the guy go! She wouldn’t press charges.

Seems to me I recall a similar situation once happened to a junior army officer named George S. Patton. It turned out to be a lovers' spat between fiances and a mutual friend. Leaving Patton's sense of virtue looking a bit out of place.

Not really sure if it was a true story though. Patton certainly had his share of detractors as a brilliant strategist but horrible at social dynamics. As his boss with five stars occasionally chastised him over.

 

[Cutesie]

I think of myself as a helpless wimp, but I do courageous things all the time. Tiny things, that aren’t tiny at all for me. Getting out of bed, calling someone, holding my tongue - so many things.

Yesterday, I walked into the emergency room and asked to be checked into the psych ward. I did it knowing what kind of tortures would accompany any possible treatment.