Don't Bully Davy Crockett

It's a life that has been thrust upon the ears and eyes of Americans for many years. The folk hero, the heroic Tennesseean who fought till his bitter end at the Alamo in the name of Texan independence. However, Davy Crockett's younger years were also pretty exceptional and we could quite possibly learn a thing or two from his younger years.Crockett was an avid outdoorsman by the age of thirteen, despite his prowess in the woods and hills, Crockett was sent to school. His father knew that a formal education combined with the instincts he'd honed through his frontier wilderness would make for a dangerous combination later in life. Off the young Davy Crockett went to school. Like most thirteen-year-olds, he wasn't much a fan of school and within a few days faced down the class bully. Boy did he beat that bully like a rented mule. Can you imagine, the kid who's been surviving in the wilderness since before puberty, getting into a fight with a stuffed shirt who's been in a classroom his whole life? Man what a sight to see that would have been.Davy didn't want to go back to school afterward, he was worried he'd get punished or the bully would find a way to get revenge on him. So instead, Davy ran off to fight bears and wolves and shit instead. Makes sense. The lesson to glean from good old Davy Crockett here is that even, he an accomplished woodsman, was afraid of something. It happens to the best of us. He didn't stay afraid though, as he fought heroically in many battles to come, including the famous stand at the Alamo.

Your past does shape who you are, but it doesn't mean you have to stay the same. The young Davy Crockett was afraid of punishment and revenge, but ultimately lived to be one of the bravest Americans in the history of two nations, the United States of America, and the Republic of Texas!