I recently read a blog post from Glennon Doyle Melton (you can read it here), and it changed me. Seriously. All of my life I've been defining brave as being scared, but doing it anyway. The high dive. The new skill on beam. Pole vaulting. I thought that you were either brave or chicken, and I knew what I didn't want to be. So for a very long time (about 35.75 years) I resented the voice inside of me that would tell me I wasn't ready, to turn around, or to think twice. In the last few months however, I began to realize that while those things were probably instances of bravery, they weren't the only ones. For me, I was brave every time I raised my hand in class, every time I told a friend how I felt, and when I shared with trusted friends the things I was struggling with. I'm beginning to realize that being brave is listening to the voice inside and having the courage to follow it. My brave is not the same as your brave. We can not compare our acts of courage because they are unique to each of us.
As I have been sharing these thoughts with our kids, they have been responding in some really inspiring ways. From sleeping without a night light to signing up for a sport they haven't played before, they are starting to realize that you don't have to be a fireman or a policeman to be brave (though they surely are too). You have the opportunity to be brave every day, from choice to choice. I love this poem from Shel Silverstein. I hope you do too!
The Voice
There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you--just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.”
As I have been sharing these thoughts with our kids, they have been responding in some really inspiring ways. From sleeping without a night light to signing up for a sport they haven't played before, they are starting to realize that you don't have to be a fireman or a policeman to be brave (though they surely are too). You have the opportunity to be brave every day, from choice to choice. I love this poem from Shel Silverstein. I hope you do too!
The Voice
There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you--just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.”