Being Brave

I am not by nature a very brave person. I am what has been described of me as "polite". Meaning, I tend to be quiet in social settings, I won't interrupt or talk over someone, I don't usually offer opinions unless directly asked. I won't strike up a conversation with a stranger. I am often reserved in expressing my feelings for fear of all sorts of things; rejection, offending someone, not expressing myself clearly. But this year, actually just these last few months I have decided to be brave. I have friends who are really brave and while it might be awkward and uncomfortable for a moment, they often times get really incredible results from speaking up. Like tickets to a game they wanted to go to or a date with someone they thought was attractive or a promotion or a new friendship. There's a song that became very popular this year by Sara Barellis called "Brave" and the chorus says "say what you want to say and let the words fall out, honestly, I want to see you be brave". I have found myself singing that to myself every time I feel scared to say something. So I've been more brave this year and it has been awkward and scary and I don't always get the results I hope for but I also have less "what ifs?" to wrestle with and more confidence and I believe stronger relationships as my new found bravery breaks through the walls we've built up to protect ourselves and allows love to grow.

How can you be brave today?