Being Brave

Brave.

We hear that word often and it’s almost to a point where the word has no value but I’d like to take a few moments and reflect on the idea of bravery. Bravery was a term formerly used to describe men going to war, exploring the wild frontier, or setting out for new land. Those things are brave but brave. Bravery isn’t exclusive though to acts of valor.

Bravery can be showing up for your own self. It can be holding space for those thoughts, emotions, and behavior patterns that are deeply rooted and admitting where you gave consent for those things to exist. Bravery isn’t just a front-cover telling of age story where you share your testimony. Bravery steps in way before the cover photo. 

Let’s reimagine bravery for a moment with your own self. Let’s write out a few scenarios:

Have you noticed negative, self-destructive behavior patterns? You acknowledge they’re there and you promise yourself you’ll do better next time but you haven’t quite cracked the shell to see change. Change is the fruit of reckoning those thoughts|mindsets|behaviors. NO ONE. I mean 100% no one wants to acknowledge to their own self they are wrong. But you CAN be brave and give yourself space to unpack this destructive pattern.

By destructive patterns I mean: patterns of passive-aggressiveness, acknowledging your triggers but not overcoming them, constantly yelling and fighting, overeating, binge drinking, Netflix addiction, whatever you’re doing to avoid coming to grips with the problem.

You are NOT the problem but you are enabling the problem by not dealing with it. Be brave y’all! Be brave and show up for yourself. Be willing to admit to yourself and our Creator that you are wrong. Repent. Confess. Receive healing. This conversation will take 10 whole minutes and the cool part is it’s a conversation between you our Creator; it’s a conversation with your mind to your heart. No one else is observing it. You are worth it to give yourself 10 minutes to create alignment in your life.

Another situation that requires bravery:

Hard conversations. Hard conversations require you to be brave. How often do we avoid hard conversations because we know it will hurt. We don’t want to ruffle tail feathers - so instead of addressing the problem, it’s just ignored. BE BRAVE. Record your train of thought for the hard conversation, write down your notes, then present information. Don’t accuse the person you’re having the conversation with of ill will. Just ask for boundaries to be honored.

Hard conversations are brave because they require you to be willing to hear that you might be wrong but it’s also a way for you to retain your own power because you are establishing a boundary line. In the coming weeks, I am making space to have a good number of hard conversations. Hard conversations aren’t negative things they just don’t feel good. BE BRAVE! Show up for your own self though. Show up to retain your autonomy.

Acts of valor are brave. Brave is ALSO being honest with your own self and regaining lost ground. Your self is SO WORTH the 10-minute breaks needed for this kind of breakthrough. Alignment yields lightness. Be brave and shed that emotional baggage.