In the shadow of bravery

I admire bravery wherever I see it.  I spoke with a woman from Pakistan today who had come to the U.S. (legally) to get her education.  She wants to become a teacher because she hurts for her country's female population.  She knows that her countrymen routinely ignore half of their population when they educate their young people.  She wants things to be different.

That's not the bravery part.  The courageous act she wants to perform is to return with a highly respected education from this country and teach young women and girls about math, science, commerce, economics, and other subjects that would enhance their understanding of quality living.  She knows that many of the men who run the country don't share this vision in the least.  And she knows those men would kill someone who tried to change the status quo.  She still wants to educate young women because she has daughters herself and wants them to have a better life.

I don't know if I possess this kind of bravery.  I try to take new paths sometimes, but I usually try to work within a framework to get things done diplomatically or politically.  I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have been courageous about going against the status quo.  And that makes me genuinely admire this woman who might have to face down an imminent threat on her life one day in the not so distant future.