Something you ever did that was courageous or that you were proud of? Even something seemingly inconsequential?

[GoodPersonEffed]

It inspires me when someone does something courageous or worthy of praise, and I'm a little low on inspiration right now where humans are concerned.

It also helps me to feel better about myself when I think of something I've done that I'm proud of or faced something scary, so maybe it will help someone else to remember and write about something they've done that was courageous or that they were proud of, no matter how small or big. It's not a comparison competition, it's all impressive.

Like, I once took part in helping someone salvage their belongings after a house fire and throw out the unsalvageable. I came across a, um, marital aid, and threw it in the trash without saying anything so they wouldn't be embarrassed. Maybe that's just basic decency, but I felt proud of it, even more so than taking part in the grunt work to help out a fellow human. I'd feel good hearing about someone else doing something out of basic compassion, and I hope others will share. G-rated stuff is most welcome.

 

[summers]

Please don't think this is to brag. One time, when I was at college, I saw a blind person about to walk on a huge sheet of ice. I ran over and guided him around the ice, and made sure he got to the classroom safely.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I had the top score in the highest ranking league in the mobile game Sonic Runners on the very last day before it shut down. That's about all I think I can actually be proud of...

 

[esse_est_percipi]

Driving along a country road at night, saw a dying rabbit whose lower body had been crushed by a car probably.
It was moving its front paws and head, obviously in agony.
I got out of the car and tried to comfort it, and covered its body with a towel I had in the car.
I prayed for its suffering to end, as I couldn't bring myself to kill it to put it out of its misery.
Within a few minutes it stopped moving and breathing.
I felt that I somehow was destined to be there, at that time, although the meaning of it is perhaps inscrutable and incomprehensible.
It wasn't a 'courageous' thing, nor something I did to feel proud, but if I had just driven past after seeing its plight, I would have felt terrible about myself.

 

[puppy9]

I'm there for my mother and confronted people who dares to hurt her.

Telling my dad to fuck off.

Baked something for my family, and they love it.

 

[Brackenshire]

The best gift you can give someone is something of yourself..a kind word, a smile, a pat on the arm, a compliment..your hair is so shiny..cost nothing monetary but some of yourself..

I noticed a lady had extraordinary green eyes..told her yourveyes are striking. She started crying..said you dont know how good that made me feel..i have been fighting Leukemia

 

[BitterlyAlive]

I really liked my job because I could listen to people who were in their darkest moments, help them feel validated/cared for (because I really did care about them and they're human beings who are also struggling a lot). I've talked about it numerous times but it's really all I can think of in my life.

 

[Giraffey]

I befriended my bully in high school and taught him how to code and the basics of designing video games. I watched him go from playing those silly flash games to designing and then programming them. He had been arrested for shoplifting, threatened with expulsion from school and was a real menace; after I took him under my wing, not only did I stop getting bullied, but I felt good that his behaviour had improved too, I think he had just a single detention in the two years after. Before the pandemic hit, he was working for a studio as a games programmer whereas the two friends he used to hang around with are in prison for armed robbery. I'm not sure that it was brave, but it was definitely my little bit of karma.

 

[BitterlyAlive]

Baked something for my family, and they love it

This one is so sweet.

 

[VivaldiBR]

I already saved someone who was drowning in the sea. I almost drowned because I was exhausted helping the person.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

There was a sixteen-year-old girl I knew, thought was a great person, and was very protective of. One day I saw her taking to a couple of men, and their subtle body language was that they were flanking her like pack dogs do, which set off alarms. And yet her body language was totally relaxed. I went outside and approached, and one of them was asking her to go to dinner with them. I decided to go bold. I walked up and said, "Hey hey hey! Do you know she's only sixteen??" The men instantly got indignant and offended. They said, "She's family! We have every right to take her to dinner!" She told me, "It's okay, GPE, I know them." So I backed off and apologized for the misunderstanding, but said I protect first, and I was glad she was okay. The men remained offended and blustered at me, and left soon after. Afterward, she hugged me and thanked me. She said, "They're not family and they have no right to call me that." She just glowed for how I stood up for her. In retrospect, if they really cared about her, they would have been glad to know someone was watching out for her and protecting her, not all butt hurt that I accused them; they acted like they'd gotten cockblocked, and there were times after that in which they tried to intimidate me, then finally backed off their stance when I refused to be cowed. I also found out later her father was basically a small-time cult leader who really isolated and oppressed her, and yet simultaneously let her hang out in sketchy places and with predators like that. I also supported her when I realized her martial arts instructor was acting gross with her, and she was grateful because, until I mentioned it to her, she'd just had yucky feelings and doubted them and herself. I don't know where she is now or if she got free from her family, but I feel proud that I supported her and helped her hone her predator identification skills. She had a lot of inner strength that was just starting to grow, and I hope, having had someone treat her as worthy of protection, respect, and safe affection, that she learned to have that for herself.

It took a lot of courage to trust my gut and boldly step into that situation, those men were way bigger than me, and my instincts proved right. I'm proud of that, and of the positive impact I had on her, as I wish someone had done for me.

 

[Good4Nothing]

Back when I was 19 I was job searching in a big city in another state. A lady in a red flowered dress started yelling at me from the far end of an abandoned parking lot. She was coming towards me, and I noticed two men sitting on a car behind her, watching me. It seemed really sketchy, so I kept walking, hoping to avoid whatever scam they were trying to pull on me. As she got closer I noticed she was saying "help me", and as she got even closer I noticed she wasn't wearing a red flowered dress - it was a white dress covered in blood. I stopped and asked her what happened, and as I did the two men got in their car and sped across the parking lot towards us. I grabbed her hand and started running. Out of instinct, or panic, I'm not sure, I ran out into traffic. Halfway across the road I noticed a church on the corner, and made a bee-line for it. The two men were out of the car now and running after us in the road, literally right on our heels. I don't believe in miracles, but believe it or not, as soon as we hit the sidewalk in front of the church the big double doors opened wide and a throng of people poured out. They intercepted the woman and the men chasing us, and I disappeared in the confusion and found a pay phone and called 911 to get an ambulance and some police to the church. I don't know what happened after that. I went back to my car and drove the 14 hours back to my home state. But I like to think I saved someone's life that day.

 

[Ghost2211]

My kids and I were crossing a driveway and a car nearly hit us. my at the time 5 year old was where the car would have hit, baby was in the stroller, and 8 year old was on the other side. When my daughter saw how close the car was she panicked and fell to the ground. I didn't have time to think, so I just reacted and turned the stroller away from the car which made if fall, and I grabbed my daughter by the arm and dragged her back forcefully. The baby was buckled so likely only hit his head on the stroller side. The stroller also forced my older son to bump into it. The car hit my knee while pulling daughter back.

I punched the hood of the guys car pretty hard. I was yelling at him and kids were crying. Police did nothing since none of us were seriously hurt. My daughter would have gone under the wheel. I can't believe how fast I processed and reacted, and disregarded my safety. I felt good I did the right things in crisis. One of the scariest days of my life seeing her come so close to death.

 

[CogitoMori]

Stood up to abusive bosses

 

[Thisisnotaname]

Maybe 10 years ago, I don't remember very well, I was at my aunt's. a residential area in the summer, she had 2 dogs that started to bark really loud and we saw smoke coming out of a house. the neighbors were not there so I entered by jumping the gate to take a look. the terrace began to badly catch fire. I found a tap not far from the garage and I plugged in the garden hose to start putting out the fire , in short clogs. By the time the firefighters arrived, I managed to put out the fire and when I heard the siren nearby I left. The neighbors came that evening with a bottle of wine because another neighbor had tipped me

 

[Cavalcade]

This year, I wound up saving my brother's hearing. He had a rare side effect associated with the blood thinners he'd been placed on, and because of knowledge I'd picked up in highschool about side effects seen in time to exsanguination trials in mice using older generation blood thinners, it pinged my recollection of the syndrome, and its treatment. (It's pretty simple to fix, steroids will do the trick, but people often don't seek care until a great deal of permanent hearing loss has occurred because early warning signs are so subtle: he had just had mild issues with his ears irking him and some minor difficulties while watching the TV.)

He'd brushed off the early warning signs, but at my adamant, panicked insistence, phoned his doctor. Early intervention is so key with auditory issues. They brushed him off at first, but within fifteen minutes, were blowing up his phone after they'd done a consult- the doctors were baffled as to how he'd known to reach out to them, as it's a very rare side effect, and not commonly seen in the newer formulations. He already has partial hearing loss, and the chances are very high that he would have gone completely deaf more or less overnight, had I not caught it and his having undergone treatment basically immediately.

That felt good, to be able to concretely help him- and it was really reaffirming to know that my gut instinct that something was wrong from his throwaway comment while watching TV, and attentively listening to him to know that that was unusual for him, wound up having a really big impact in his life. He gets to keep hearing his wife's voice, and his kid's voice. That was a really special thing to be able to give him.