Brave
1303
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Brave

20 Apr Brave

Posted at 23:00h in Uncategorized by

A little girl with pigtails was watching the zookeeper carefully. I watched as her wide eyes carefully tracked the snake moving through the zookeeper’s hands. The zookeeper talked about the snake and wondered if anyone would like a chance to hold it. A boy’s hand shot into the air. He raced up toward the zookeeper. The snake was placed carefully into his outstretched hands. He grinned as his mom took a picture.

The little girl stood near the zookeeper and kept her eyes glued to the snake’s movements. The zookeeper leaned down and kindly asked if she would like to hold the snake. She said no, firmly shaking her head from side to side, her pigtails whipping across her face.

The snake was getting lots of interest. Children’s hands were raised, vying for the next chance to hold the snake. “Are you sure you don’t want to hold the snake?” The zookeeper said to the little girl again. She declined again with the same pigtail swishing gesture.

The “meet a snake” time was over. As the group dispersed, the zookeeper smiled again at the little girl and said maybe she would feel braver next time. Her mother took her hand and the two of them walked away.

I sat on a bench (far from the snake), every bit of me wanting to run up to the little girl with pigtails and tell her the zookeeper was wrong in saying maybe she would be brave another day.

Because brave isn’t when we feel afraid and do it anyway. Brave means standing up for what we want or don’t want to do, even when there’s pressure. Especially when there’s pressure. To let the crowd think you’re a snake-afraid coward if that’s what they choose to believe and shake your pigtails wildly and confidently with your decision.

There probably won’t be many times in her life when the little girl with pigtails will need to show courage to hold a snake. But I bet there will be a whole bunch of times when she will have to stand her ground, trust herself, set boundaries for what she is comfortable with and not give in. 

Deciding for ourselves is bravery. Trusting in ourselves is bravery. And from what I can see, this little girl is one of the bravest people I know.