That moment when you realize that you feel all the things — “good” (grateful, blessed, lucky, privileged) and “bad” (scared, anxious, worried, unconfident) — and that’s what being alive is.
You know when people choose a word for the year as inspiration? I think I’ve finally found my word. My husband, Louie, first labelled it for me when he posted my new haircut:
A lot of times, I don’t feel brave. I imagine bravery as someone who confidently steps up without fear, as someone who isn’t afraid to do what I’m too afraid to do. But that’s not what it is. (And I should know better.) Earlier this week, Louie told me that he’s proud of me and how brave I am, and my answer was, “But I’m scared.” “That’s the thing,” he said, “You’re scared—but you do it anyway.”
So I’m going to remember that. And I’m going to keep being brave. while acknowledging those who help me be brave, because there’s no way I could move past the fears and worries without the inspiration and motivation and love that I’ve been so blessed to receive from so many people around me. Ya’all help me be bold and fierce and brave &heart;.
Need a little more on the love + bravery thing? How about some Christina Perri or Maya Angelou? And if you’re willing to share something brave you did this year, please share 🙂
A Thousand Years
Christina Perri
Touched By An Angel
Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
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