Bravery

[Trevorum]

This minute was well recieved at our troop meeting. You are welcome to share it with your troop also.

 

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BRAVERY

Weve talked before about the Scout Law and how its a pretty darn good guide to live your life by. Some of those 12 points seem easier than others. Everyone here has a pretty good understanding of what it means to be Trustworthy. But other points of the law arent so clear sometimes. Take Bravery. Some of you have said to me that bravery is what soldiers do in battle. Well, thats true, but bravery is a lot more than that. We can all show bravery in our everyday lives. Sometimes bravery is just doing what you need to do, without complaining, even if you dont want to, and even if its hard.

 

I want you to think about the thing in your life that is giving you the most difficulty right now. Maybe its a class in school. Maybe its your parents. Maybe its a friend. How are you handling it? Are you complaining or feeling sorry for yourself? Now think about the time in your entire life that has been the biggest difficulty for you. How did you handle that?

 

While you are thinking, I want to tell you a story. This is a true story that happened just last month. Its about a high school student who lives right here in our community. Maybe some of you even know her her name is Katie. Katie is smart; pretty; has lots of friends; shes Drum Major of her high school band; she gets good grades. Earlier this year everything was going pretty good for Katie. Then the doctor gave her some bad news. She had cancer. I imagine that was a pretty big shock for a teenager. How would you have handled that? Well, Katie went through the chemotherapy and radiation treatments but eventually the Doctors told her that it wasnt working, that the only way she would survive at all was if they amputated her leg. The doctors wanted to cut off her leg! Shed never again be able to run or play soccer or ride a bike the same way. Her entire life would be different. Well, Katie knew what she had to do and, together with her parents, she made an appointment for the surgery. She actually picked a day when the doctors were going to cut off her leg. She saw that day come closer and closer on her calendar. And the night before her surgery, the night before she was going to loose her leg forever - for the rest of her life, do you know what she was doing? What would you be doing? Katie was on the field with her high school band in a marching competition. Her band was counting on her and she wasnt going to let them down. Thats bravery.

 

Think about it.