Many words are spelled differently but mean the same thing, however, their degree varies.
Take the word, courage, for example. Courage means the ability to do something that frightens a person. One could say sky diving is courageous, but we often use the word brave, especially when it comes to risky stunts.
What about those moments that require a call to action? What about moments where a person doesn’t think and somehow, instinctively, saves a person?
Earlier this year, a young Texas woman pulled a man from a burning car after witnessing a car crash in Houston. As the car was in a blaze, 25-year-old Shei’Londa Brooks dragged the driver of the wrecked vehicle to safety.
“It was February 29 about 9:15 a.m.,” Shei’Londa explained. “First thing I thought was OMG this man just let go of his steering wheel. My mind went blank as I watched him wreck his car.”
Shei’Londa said as the car flipped the fire started. “My mouth dropped. I knew it was going to blow.” When the car stopped flipping, Shei’Londa ran toward his car.
“All I could think about was get this man out of the car,” she said. “I never thought about the danger I was putting myself in.”
As Shei’Londa was pulling the driver out of the car, the vehicle exploded. “When that car blew up in my face, I screamed,” she added in an interview. “…I felt like my body was on fire. My clothes were destroyed and burned the meat on my inner thigh. I calmed down [and] told myself ‘I’m OK’.”
Shei’Londa accredited another person who helped her pull the driver to safety. Paramedics said that if she wouldn’t have rushed in, the driver would have died in the explosion.
She remains modest and acknowledged her faith as the hero in the horrific event.
Fearless, or being fearless, can come to us in those urgent moments. For Shei’Londa, it came when a person was in immediate danger. There was no time to think. The unpredictable fear was turned on its head, and the heart motioned to fearlessness in an instant.
Till this day, Shei’Londa maintains her modesty and thanksgiving to her faith. Her sweet mannerisms prior to the crash transformed into grace. Her fearlessness morphed into strength both spiritually and physically. “I am a living witness that GOD is real,” she said in an interview with The Word Changes.” The fearless charge to save a life intensified her relationship with her faith and acknowledges it in her daily life.
Perhaps fearlessness is in us all. Every person has that miraculous part of their spirit where they harness courage without knowing it’s there.
For more stories like these, check out The Word Changes blog on this site.
- a the word changes contributor