Today’s WordPress question is: “What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done when no one was watching?”
That sounds a little loaded.
It seems to imply that bravery performed in public is somehow suspicious. Maybe you weren’t really brave. Maybe you were just playing to the crowd. Maybe you only ran into the burning building because somebody had a camera out.
For the record, I have never checked for witnesses before doing something difficult.
I also have never had a convenient private opportunity to wrestle a bear, stop a bank robbery, defuse a bomb or carry an unconscious stranger out of a burning building. Apparently my life has lacked the kind of after-hours heroism WordPress was hoping for.
I’m trying to imagine the proper circumstances.
“Is anyone watching?”
“No.”
“Excellent. Now I can be brave.”
Most brave things, I suspect, happen because something needs to be done. Someone is in danger. A hard truth needs to be told. A difficult decision has to be made. You have to stand up for someone, own a mistake, walk into a hospital room, make the phone call you’ve been dreading or keep going through something you would rather escape.
Sometimes people are watching. Sometimes they aren’t. I’m not convinced the head count changes the courage involved. The bigger problem is that I honestly have no idea what the bravest thing I’ve ever done was.
I don’t maintain a personal bravery ledger. There is no notebook in my desk with entries like:
- “March 14: Faced difficult situation. No witnesses. Very heroic.”
- “April 8: Told truth despite consequences. Audience unclear.”
- “June 22: Remained calm during crisis. Possible dog present.”
Maybe that’s because most courage doesn’t feel particularly heroic while it’s happening. Usually it feels uncomfortable, inconvenient or terrifying. You don’t hear dramatic music. There is no slow-motion camera angle. Morgan Freeman does not narrate your decision.
You just do what needs to be done. And sometimes, years later, you look back and realize that maybe it took more courage than you understood at the time.
So I can’t give WordPress a great cinematic answer today. I have not secretly fought crime in the shadows. I have not saved civilization while everyone else was asleep. I have not even charged into a fire without first confirming that local television crews had gone home. I’ve just lived a life that, like most lives, has occasionally required courage.
Sometimes people were watching. Sometimes they weren’t. And I have absolutely no idea which one should count more.
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Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.
