Being Brave

We are born curious and brave but fear paralyzes, keeps us stuck and steals from us the opportunity to color outside the lines and experience a life without limits. When children first learn to walk, they are not worried about doing it wrong. 

 

Facing fear can make you brave.

take the first step afraid
Photo by Yusuf Evli on Unsplash
  • Brave means taking the first step, facing fear and doing it afraid.
  • Brave means standing your ground. Fear often is only as strong as the space you give it. 
  • Brave means not giving in. Quitting is not an option if you want a bigger, more colorful and courageous life. You might fail. You may also succeed, which for some can be as scary as failure. 
cactus. brave.www.nancybouwens.co
Photo by Thomas Verbruggen on Unsplash

Cacti in the desert, against all odds, push up and grow. We can do the same. Fear wins when you stop trying. Start by doing what you can with what you have. 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:9

Brave looks different for everyone.

  • Brave may be dealing with a wandering spouse who is breaking your heart.
  • Brave may be facing an all-consuming addiction in the life of your child.
  • Brave may be a physical or mental struggle you deal with every day.
  • Brave may be courage to start a new business and fulfill a dream of entrepreneurship.
  • Brave may be quitting your job to leave a toxic environment.
  • Brave may be getting involved in your community bringing hope to the hopeless.
  • Brave may be simply putting your feet on the ground and begin again. 

We don’t need to be alone. Gather others around you or step out and create a community and be strong together. You are more resilient than you can imagine and braver than you know. 

Begin, start, do what you can. We spend so much time thinking we can do so little, but forget a small act, done bravely and with great love has a ripple effect beyond what we can see. Creating change does not belong to just one group of people. It belongs to all of us. 

 Be brave enough to care. Be good to as many people as possible. We are the hands and feet of Jesus to a world who needs to see there is a difference. 

nancy bouwens coach

14 Comments

  1. This post spoke to my heart this morning. Your words here resonate with my own life experience with fear. For years I lived a life full of fear and anxiety. I had to learn to just trust in ‘the prince of peace’ and do it afraid!
    Powerful post Nancy!

    1. yes and yes! Press in to the one who holds your heart and your hand every step of the way! Blessings Cori-Leigh! Press in.

  2. What a great invitation–a challenge really–to be brave. It’s just in time for a New Year when we may be ready, called or driven, to step out to accomplish goals and be better off for being brave.

  3. An outstanding article Nancy. I am with you all the way on this. I love helping women identify and eliminate their fears. I’ve dealt with so much fear of failure through the culprits of perfectionism and control over the course of my life. It really is amazing what God does when we give him even a little bravery (willingness) to work with. He has amazed me many times over. Thank you for such a great article encouraging folks to trust him.

    1. Debbie – Your words have made me think.. a little bit of bravery, a little bit of faithfulness… a little is much when God is in it! I think I will be pondering this thought for a bit.

      “it’s amazing what God does when we give him even a little bravery” Debbie Luxton

      Blessings- Nancy

  4. Brave to me is doing what I hear God inside tell me to do and let God handle the consequences.

  5. You know Nancy, I think you’ve touched on what has been disorienting me as of late. I find more and more situations I have no control over which leads to fear. The words of you granddaughter got to me. With so much swirling around, I lose my center so easily. Thank you for these encouraging words!

    1. Getting out of bed sometimes seems like being out of control at times! Daily reaching for the hand of God as we walk much to close to the edge- we must be brave and courageous- because as our Hannah reminds us we “DO have Jesus and God in our Heart”

      Nancy

  6. Sometimes for me being brave is just trusting God when I haven’t a clue as to what is happening, which is always. LOVED your post and I’m with your little voice. “Way to go. Do it again.”

    1. Oh My heart Anne, me too… I never seem to have a clue what is happening.. it’s like running with my eyes closed- but holding Abba’s hand. Here’s to “doing it again”

      Nancy

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