During a recent Scoutmaster Conference, a Scout brought up a great point, that it is not possible to be brave unless one is facing fear. We face fear in our daily lives. It is part of our growth as humans. We learn to balance and walk, ride a bike, swim, speak and sing in front of others, and other things that push us away from our comfort zones, face our fears and achieve. From the mastery of fire to walking on the moon, these displays of bravery have allowed us to propel our civilization forward.
Behind the guts to do brave things is often training to build confidence and incremental skill. Think of the example of learning how to ride a bike. We might start on a tricycle before we get on a bicycle with training wheels. Then we progress to riding without training wheels, but with mom or dad holding on to us. As we show balance and ability, the parent lets go and we ride for the first time. Albeit this is building up skill to complete the task, it is still bravery in conquering a fear.
Likewise, this weekend members of the Troop displayed bravery in tackling the extreme cold and camping in the outdoors in tents. Whereas we may have been fearful, we found that our preparations and training made what was difficult doable. Now we are better off for the experience, being better prepared and more confident knowing that we have successfully taken what the weather had to throw at us, and we came out on the other side victorious.
A Scout is Brave.