Being Brave

Concept of Bravery

Over the past couple days I have been thinking over this concept of bravery.  What does it really mean? How is it accomplished? Every since the incredible human rights advocate Nelson Mandela died, bravery has rolled around in my brain. I think the best way to describe bravery is doing things outside of your own comfort zone.  So many times people are content in just settling in life and not doing things that challenge them, and to me that is not living or even being brave.

Bravery is doing new things, hard things, uncomfortable things that constantly challenge you.

Here are some examples of what I think is brave:

• Bravery is wearing a skirt without having shaved your legs
• Bravery is going outside, in public, without wearing make-up
• Bravery is surfing in the middle of January knowing you could get frost bite
• Bravery is helping a homeless man you don't know, even when he is yelling at you in front of many people at the local 7 Eleven
• Bravery is standing up to someone and telling them "NO" when everyone else is saying "yes"
• Bravery is getting rid of people in your life who constantly make you compromise your integrity.
• Bravery is telling your best friend she deserves better and needs to make choices in life that are more beneficial than harmful
• Bravery is moving to a city where you don't know anymore, but doing it because it is what the Lord is telling you to.
• Bravery is getting help psychologically because you know you need it and because you love your family enough to try
• Bravery is giving up an addiction
• Bravery is living your dreams even though you may fail at times... ALWAYS KEEP DREAMING.
• Bravery is saying "I'm sorry" to someone you hurt
• Bravery is saying "I forgive you" to someone who hurt you
• Bravery is standing up for people who are the least of these
• Bravery is helping to free others so they can live free like you
• Bravery is freedom

This list could go on and on, but the important thing is to be brave in every moment and season of life. Do things that are different from what you are used to.  Do things to stand out. Do things that make you a better person.

Be BRAVE.

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." ~Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
Love Always,
Insightful Mel