u/notouchmypeterson asked:
What takes more courage than people realize?
Here were some of the answers.
Helping Others
Intervening in a situation. 99% of people ignore fights, people getting hurt, or any situation where someone needs to stand up.
Self Worth
Took me four years to leave a job that treated me unfairly (the first nine were great, and I'm still friends with the boss I had during those years).
And what finally did it was standing up for my daughter being treated unfairly at her dance school, having been there for five years and being turned down for dance team in favor of girls who weren't as good as she was, one who wasn't even old enough to try out. I finally said "enough" and brought her to a more competitive (and unfortunately expensive) school where she is a valued member of the dance team, and I realized that it was easy for me to help her because I was on the outside of the situation and knew she deserved to be on that team. Had she sucked I would have accepted it and helped her get better or find something she was better suited for, but I did consult with her dance teacher - who had no say in the dance team - just in case I was too biased, and she confirmed that she was just as deserving as the kids who made it.
So I decided to step back and look at my situation from the outside, having as much confidence in myself as I did in my kid (while also consulting with my former boss just in case I was in the wrong) and say, "She can do better" and within two months I began a job that was less stressful, making almost $20k more than my base salary at the job I had been working at for thirteen years. Even my former employees say that I look much more relaxed and happy. And because of that dance school, which is further away, I have very little free time, yet I'm still happier. I didn't ever do things for myself because I was too scared, but teaching my child how to change things she finds unacceptable made me a better advocate for myself.
Life Life Life
Living the life you want to live. Society says we HAVE to do all these things by all these deadlines.
Fun fact: you don't. But fighting those societal norms isn't easy!
All Of Your Ducks In A Row
Learning to live and accept yourself.
Getting out of a toxic friendship or relationship.
Believing in yourself.
Standing up for yourself.
Not giving up.
Not being a sheep/follower.
Stability Vs. Control
Leaving a toxic/abusive relationship. Until you've been in one it's easy to think "Well if someone's mean to you/lays hands on you/cheats on you then you leave. No brainer." but it's so much harder than it seems. In my case it felt like unraveling my whole life. Admitting to people outside of my marriage what was actually happening felt like dying. As one of those "gifted" kids you've heard about, failure is the last thing you want to admit. Being made a fool of is the second to last. Leaving my marriage meant doing both.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Change, even change for the better.
Even if given the means to escape the things that suck in your life, you'll find a way to re-manufacture the same bullshit that used to drive your blood pressure up, because that's what you're used to and The Unknown is scarier than that.
Deep down, most people are that horse that would run back into a burning barn, because the barn is home and there are people shouting outside.
Change.
Half Trying
Saying no and speaking against the opinion of a group.
I work in care, so I spend half my week doing team meetings. Most trouble starts because people will just nod in meetings while they are actually not in agreement. Then will then do the agreed job halfway or not at all, causing stuff to fail. At the next meeting nobody will admit to half-trying the job so you end up having the same discussion as the last meeting. Very tiring.
*Jaws Theme*
Swimming in the open ocean.
I'm an adrenaline junkie, ride motorcycles, jump out of planes, thrill rides, do rock climbing etc. but swimming in the open ocean where there's no bottom, unknown creatures lurking below... not easy.
A Risk To A New Life
Success. A lot of people won't embrace a risk because they are not only afraid of the negative outcome but also about the good one. And most of the times we are not aware about this fear and succumb to it out of low self-esteem and self sabotaging behavior.
Coming Out Of The Mental Health Closet
Saying that you have depression i guess. Or having depression and trying to 'move on' . I feel like people wont actually take it seriously in my opinion, cuz there are some cases that people would just say 'move on'. Sometimes its hard to explain, its worst if you have some type of anxiety too, like social anxiety.