Bravery

When I told co-workers at Vanguard that I’d been hiking in Peru and Chile and volunteering in Haiti and St. John, they made out like I was full of derring-do. The reality is I lived on borrowed bravery. My friend Cynthia was the ring leader for my hikes and my volunteer trips were organised by trusted nonprofits.

I was thinking of this yesterday when I had lunch with Sheena, a friend from church. She’s just back from a month in India, where she spent a week volunteering in a slum with “untouchables,” a week at a science conference (she’s a scientist), and two weeks on holiday. Sheena is 60 and my hat is off to her. I loved all the trips I’ve been on but I have a hard time seeing myself doing them now. The hardship of illness, unpleasant (nonexistent) toilets, weird food, intense heat or cold. Add to that the density of India’s population and the assault of the smells and noise--I have zero interest in going there. So no derring-do here--just an opportunist who lucked into some wonderful experiences. Sheena, however, is the real thing.
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