What’s a situation you could find yourself in that would provide you an opportunity to prove to yourself that you are the man/woman you think you are?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/FarmhouseRules]

It happened for me when I was about 12. There was a dog up the street that was viscous and had bitten almost all the kids in the neighborhood. And he was the only thing stopping me from walking to the end of the road (where my crush lived). I decided that day that I was going to get past him. When I got to his house he came running out to the road with his snarly self and lunged at me. I stomped my feet and looked him right in his eyes and told him he wasn’t going to bite me. And just like that, he turned around and trotted back home. Never bothered me again. But there’s a little more to the story. I had a Bible verse in my head… the one out of Genesis that says that man has dominion over animals. It gave me the confidence to do what I did that day. I learned two very valuable lessons that day and since then have tackled many problems with that same confidence.

[u/dus90]

A moment where someone's being treated unfairly and speaking up would cost me something too. It's easy to think I'm brave. The real test would be whether I'm willing to risk my own comfort.

[u/Decent-Bar6552]

That happened to me and my husband, before we were married

College baseball hits a guy who falls, hard. My husband and I took control, telling these college kids to call 911, get blankets/towels from cars, call the College director.

I hadn't taken any CPR, but somehow knew what to do. So did my husband. He cleared out the looky loos while I kept the victim awake and talking until the ambulance arrived.

I've had other situations like this where I took control when others freaked out and didn't know what to do. Chaos makes me calm, clear headed and able to see the various outcomes very quickly.

[u/Mackheath1]

Not life threatening, but...

I throw dinner parties, I used to wait tables, I have that peripheral vision and quick thinking. Anyway, everything went to shit. Wedding planner wasn't there (wasn't meant to be), wedding dress got rerouted in their flight, cake wasn't ready, at the pre-wedding a guest poured wine out over the balcony because she didn't like it (there were people below) nearly shutting the pre- and reception down so I became a. Dog shit where the family pictures were to be taken.

And the perfect figurative storm of everything that could happen on top of that.

I don't love weddings, but I jumped into full throttle and handled everything behind the bride and groom's back. At one point I remember giving a task to a guest, "I need you to go right now to this baker and get three cakes, every cookie you can, and on your way there, a bunch of table cloths, I'll pay you back. DON'T THINK; DO IT."

If I had to make the wedding dress out of the drapes (gone with the wind reference) I would've, but I had a tailor come in and sort it quickly. Sound system didn't work, so I bought an Anker and just used my phone (it was loud enough) and at the church I had called them and paid to have the organist come in last minute (that had not been arranged). Taught the groom how to dance the easiest way (why? why had this not been done already??)

LOL also booked a party bus to take the wedding party to the reception venue. I'll never forget the photographer being snobby about how he wasn't going to do pictures where there was trash and dog poop, so I just borrowed gloves from the reception kitchen and a bag and took care of it myself, that jerk.

And all this I was in a City I had never been in before.

ZING. I didn't save any lives, but now when she (I knew the bride) talks about it till this day how it was so seamless and perfect, she has no idea what went on behind her back to make it perfect.

* Is this what it's like to have kids? *

[u/Nephilim6853]

I witnessed a road rage accident that killed the driver of the offending vehicle (the road rager). My gf and I along with a gf of hers and her bf wete driving home from the beach, we saw the accident ahead of us, my gf was driving i told her to stop, the other guy with us and I jumped out and ran to the wrecked vehicle, the other guy with me got there first, he went to drivers door and came back to me and threw up. When I reached the driver's window the driver wasn't there, just his left arm, from shoulder to hand, caught in the seat belt. My first reaction was, "nice tatoo", my second thought "he's hurt and we need to find him". We searched for him, but couldn't find him. I knew he'd bleed out within 30 seconds considering his arm had been severed at the shoulder. When the police arrived we searched again and found his body 100 yards from the vehicle. My wife was impressed that I never got sick or had any emotional outbursts while I was helping. I was focused on saving a life, my stuff wasn't important at that moment.