HUMANS 101

Are They Really That Courageous — Or Are You Just Making Excuses?

A scaredy-cat demystifies courage

Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash

I’m a scaredy-cat. I imagine worst-case scenarios like it’s my job. I’m liable to jump or yelp by the mere unannounced light touch of a friend. I get nervous when introducing myself (don’t ask me why my own name trips me up). And to this day, I check under my bed to make sure nothing — or nobody — has somehow parked themselves there, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

This very nature is why I can’t help but roll my eyes whenever someone thinks I’m courageous for making bold decisions with my life. I heard about this courage when I shared that I was leaving corporate America to “find freedom.” It didn’t matter what caused me to leave. It didn’t matter that I had pushed back my plan to leave by several months. To these onlookers, it only mattered that I made an oh-so-bold decision that many of them only dreamt of doing.

And so, I was courageous — while they “could never.”

I’ve done a lot of work learning to accept flattering remarks, so my skepticism over the courage compliment is less because I don’t fancy myself bold, and all to do with me questioning how people assess courage. Many think of it in absolute terms: Only courageous people do courageous…