Are you brave?

I came across this article this morning:

What's the bravest thing you've ever done?

It's really a question posed by Real Simple, with its readers answering, and it got me thinking about how I might answer it. And honestly, I couldn't come up with anything.

I've never considered myself a brave person. It's not that I'm un-brave, I just don't think I do anything that takes real bravery. Sure, I drive on 880 in the Bay Area every day, and some would say that makes me brave. Some would say that moving to California by myself was brave. Some would say that just living here makes me brave, but when I read some of these answers, I knew I had nothing on these people.

...sold everything and moved to a new opportunity in Hawaii.

...left my first husband.

...skydive.

...zip-lining.

...get out of the World Trade Center alive on 9/11/01.

These things took REAL bravery. I can't honestly say I've done anything even close to them, and now I'm wondering if I've missed out on amazing opportunities. I'm certainly blessed to not have to sell everything and find a new opportunity, but what if the blessing is in the selling and exploring? How does the person feel that got out of the WTC all those years ago? Do they feel blessed? How many friends did they lose that day? I've had more than one friend leave a spouse, and they certainly displayed a lot of bravery in doing so. I'm pretty sure you couldn't pay me enough to skydive or zip-line, but if someone ever got me to do one of those things, I might be able to answer this question more adequately. 

But then I started thinking that maybe being brave isn't about doing something spectacular or life-changing. Maybe it's about just being alive and taking small chances here and there, not just sitting at home like a slug. Maybe it's as simple as saying hello to someone on the street that you don't know, buying breakfast for a homeless person, sitting next to someone on the train when there's an empty seat across the way or simply smiling at a cute boy across the room. I'm not saying I've done all of these things, but aren't these a tiny slice of bravery too?

Webster's defines brave as "having or showing courage", and I think there are a lot of ways that we all do this every day. It takes courage some days to just get out of bed and move. It takes courage to tell someone you love them; even more to tell them that you don't. It takes courage to tell someone you'll miss them when they're gone and even more to survive the days after they leave. And yeah, I guess it does take courage to get behind the wheel every day and face the crazy drivers on the road.

So, at the end of my discussions with myself, I guess I've realized that I'm actually a lot braver than I originally thought.