How many times do you feel as though you’re not brave enough to withstand the trials you face? Is not feeling brave enough one of the reasons you stay in situations you know are bad for you – personally and professionally? Are there times where you’ve tried to be brave only to have a situation go bad and reinforce your belief that “it’s just better to do nothing?”
As the soulful – eyed kitty in the picture for today reminds us, bravery is not the lack of fear. Fear is essential for keeping us alive; it moves us away from real danger and toward safety. But when fear becomes all – encompassing, we can’t see past it or manage it and it prevents us from making meaningful changes in our lives. Bravery allows us to stay in that fear and to take action anyway, even when that action may be staying right where we are.
So as an exercise today, take a few minutes and reflect on the following:
- What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done? Why were you motivated to do it and was the outcome as you’d hoped it would be?
- Write out a one or two sentence definition of what bravery is to you.
- List three ways (large or small) that you can become braver over the next two weeks.
- How can you embrace bravery to help you out of a negative situation you’re in right now?
- Even if you’re brave and a situation doesn’t work out as you’d like – how can you still give yourself credit for being brave anyway?
