How To Live Life “Bravely Scared”
Has anyone ever called you brave? Maybe the time you went ziplining despite your fear of heights, or the time you ate a raw oyster from a shell, or the time you had to speak in front of people. Those were very brave things to do. But is it fair to assume that you were also very scared? Fear and bravery go together, though many of us often think it’s one or the other.
Here’s the thing: if you want to be brave, you have to make the tough choices it takes to get to brave.
I recently shared this video on my Instagram with some thoughts on the topic:
For me, I want travelers for children. You know, the kind that aren’t afraid to jump on an airplane. The kind that understand how to adapt, overcome, how to be flexible to circumstances or situations without resistance. The parts about seeing beautiful things and learning about history come with the territory of traveling (literally). But the hard part is what I’m here for. You can teach it many other ways but, for me,I’ve chosen to teach it by way of traveling.
I always find it ironic that the very lessons I set out to teach my children are also lessons for me.
On our way to London last summer, every single thing that could go wrong did. A broken bone, lost luggage, canceled flights and sleeping on the airport floor–just to name a few. Suffice it to say, had we chosen to turn back, nobody would have blamed us. But the truth was, we couldn’t get home. It was either stay where we were, with thousands of other stranded travelers in New York, or go on our adventure to London despite being disappointed, exhausted and quite honestly, apprehensive about doing the thing that we set out to do.So, I decided on that airplane, 30,000 feet in the air, that we can be brave and scared at the same time. Bravely scared.
We can do the things we know will get us to brave even though they sometimes feel very scary. Perhaps that’s what it’s all about afterall–being scared out of your eyeballs about something and doing it anyway.
What choices do you need to make to go from scared to brave? Do you want to start an exercise class? The first step is to go to the very first one. Do it bravely scared. Do you want to start a book club or Bible study but fear nobody will show up? The first step is to hold your first one and do it bravely scared. Do you want to travel with your kids, even if you have to do it alone? The first step is to do it bravely scared.
I’ve been so scared to do things all my life that I got a tattoo years ago to remind me how God built me. And, guess what? He built you like this too. He built his beloved people with the spirit of power, love, self-control. He didn’t invite the spirit of fear into the secret place to watch. There was only light. He lovingly crafted us together with his power, love and self-control. Scripture says so in 2 Timothy 1:7. It’s a good reminder that whatever we do, even if we are scared, we can also be brave.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
Bravo, Mom Warrior! Let’s do this thing, let’s do it bravely scared.