Be Brave

Aristotle taught that there are many ways to be brave which all depending on your values system; Bravery is a universal belief but it does not fall into one universal idea for all.

For instance; you would say that an unarmed man fighting back when being mugged by a knife wielding criminal is brave. That’s a given… (though some might argue he were a fool).

Others might say a girl who has never spoken in public before is brave for finally having the guts to stand up in front of a crowd and fight for her right to vote in a public election. Again, it’s quite right and yet some would say that she wasn’t brave because there was no risk to her life.

It’s a sliding scale depending on what YOU deem risk. Overcoming fear is considered brave though some people do certain tasks every day who aren’t afraid (say a pilot), however, for me it would be a huge ordeal. They don’t deem their actions brave and yet I do…

You can see how this subject is quite a topic of conversation! One which has been going on since the time of ancient Greece, at least.

Bravery is clearly something personal to each individual – isn’t that crazy? We learn it when we’re kids and yet what we learn is purely dependent on our personal values.

Me? I’m scared to bleach my own hair and finally just throw caution to the wind. There is no fall out. No (real) threat of death. Still, the idea of doing it scares me and afterwards I know I’ll feel brave. It’s totally personal to me; I can’t explain why this is such a hurdle to jump. I’ve certainly faced worse and been considered brave in aspects of my life and still here I am with this bottle of hair dye… watching it… waiting to take that leap.

I’m an idiot.

Sam