Questions

What activity instantly calms you?

I don’t know about instantly but back when David became seriously ill and went to hospital I found it hard to go to sleep some nights. I started listening to classical music on the radio in bed and it did calm me and help me to sleep.

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done lately?

Last Thursday I woke up with a stuffy nose and a cough and spontaneously decided to stay at home instead of going to WOW. Nobody wants to be around people with colds these days.

If people receive a purple heart for bravery, what would other color hearts represent?  (Example yellow heart = cowardice)

I was a bit puzzled by this because my only knowledge of the Purple Heart comes from watching TV and movies and my impression was that it was given to all wounded soldiers. (I watched a lot of MASH). Getting wounded isn’t necessarily brave, sometimes it is because the person was just unlucky or even stupid. However, for the purpose of the question I’d say a white heart for being a truly good person. By the way I’m not disrespecting soldiers here. I have a lot of respect for those who go to war whether they chose to or not.

What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done or witnessed someone else do?

I read these questions before I went to bed and wondered “What on earth am I going to write about that?” This morning I knew what I wanted to say, believe me that doesn’t happen often with this type of question. I think there are different types of bravery. A military story that comes to mind which I didn’t witness but have often read about is the one about an 18 year old Australian sailor named Teddy Sheean who saved his crewmates with his bravery during an attack on their ship during WWII. It’s a story worth reading. Here is a link.

Another act of bravery which the world witnessed on television was the man who stepped in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Who can forget that image?

On a more domestic note I think that the bravest thing I ever did was to travel to the UK alone when I was nineteen. I was painfully shy. I found it extremely difficult to talk to strangers even to conduct any kind of business. I went because I wanted to see other places. I did stay with relatives for some of the time I was away but I also travelled in England on my own. It was winter there so I hadn’t even made hotel reservations for some places. I did that on purpose knowing that if I didn’t go and speak to people to make bookings I’d be sleeping on the street or at the railway station. It didn’t cure my shyness completely but I managed.

I think it is brave to take on things that seem daunting no matter how ordinary they may seem to others. Mum chose to bring two little girls all the way to Australia alone. David and I chose to move to Tasmania even though we had no jobs to go to and didn’t know a soul. Maybe not very smart but brave just the same and I don’t regret it.

GRATITUDE SECTION (Always optional)

How do you show gratitude to the people you respect?

Most of all by never forgetting what they mean to you and letting them see that while they are in your life.