IN THE NAME OF HONOUR
Bravery perplexes me. While many of you, including me sometimes, view it as an adjective pinned on those who perform ordinary acts in extraordinary circumstances, or vice versa, I have come to believe that it is more than just a badge of honour.
The dictionary might define bravery as a singular act, but my wisdom says it forms the subtext in the overcoming of challenges we face every day. Challenges that compel us to trust our instincts, take that leap of faith and cross over to the other side of the chasm we know as the fear of failure.
Whether it is finding that courage to voice a point of view in a board room filled with intimidation, or the will power to embark on a journey to fitness, bravery is mostly about taking that first step, not about winning the marathon.
Am I trivialising bravery by bringing it down from its esoteric or elitist status?
You might think so, but I feel I’m being inclusive. All of us who fight fear and limitation and survive in spite of it, deserve a badge of honour, I think. Having said that, I am reminded of a scathing opinion piece I read on an online publication – it opened my eyes to an entirely new perspective.
Written by Vanessa Parekh, a girl with physical disabilities, it says ‘congratulating a disabled person for being out in public or remembering their own name may make you [the able bodied kind] feel really sensitive – but more often than not, it makes the disabled person feel worthless. It makes me wonder how low the standards are set for me, how often people expect me to fail... It tells me that no matter what
Bravery might be defined as a singular act, but my wisdom says it forms the subtext in the overcoming of challenges we face every day
I achieve or how well I perform, I’ll always be judged as a disabled marvel, not as a person.’
While at the onset I felt the three mothers of autistic kids featured in the article ‘Mums on a Special Mission’ (page 18) should be honoured for their fortitude and determination, I now feel they should be recognised for raising kids who find strength and confidence in their talent, not in the platitudes of the able.