Are You Brave Enough?
I will never forget my very first night of CrossFit. I bought ten trial classes from Groupon in the heat of New Year’s resolution pressure. I considered going for about three weeks in a row before I worked up the nerve to pull in the parking lot. Even as I parked, I wondered if I was making a mistake. I was sure I didn’t belong there. Gym people seem to have their own language, and while they know exactly what a Russian twist is, I was still wondering if it was a type of croissant. They have a confidence that makes working out look effortless, but there’s no hiding my heavy breathing in a gym that small. I nearly threw up on my first night of CrossFit because I was determined to blend in, and I didn’t follow the trainer’s advice to do only half the reps for each exercise.
It wasn’t until two days later, when I couldn’t walk up my own stairs, that I started to think about how rarely we put ourselves into situations where we will likely fail. As a teacher, I regularly preach to my kids, “We can do hard things.” I stress the importance of a growth mindset and the idea that failure helps to stretch us and grow our minds. I started to think about how often we ask kids to show up and try their hardest in situations where they will likely be unsuccessful due to lack of skills and experience. Alternately, as adults, we curate our lives to guarantee success. We very rarely choose to participate in activities that are challenging or have the potential to bring failure, especially if that failure will happen publicly.
There is no doubt we want our kids to be brave. It’s what I want for my students. It’s what we all want for our children.
Two days after my husband and I found out we were pregnant, we went rock climbing. As I was climbing—or more truthfully, as I was falling—I could not help but think about the bravery I hope my husband and I will model for our sweet baby. That night I wrote a letter to our future child:
“I hope you are brave with your life. I hope you are willing to go on a limb. I hope that you climb great heights, but I hope that sometimes you learn the beauty in falling. I hope you learn to laugh at yourself. I hope you learn to give others a boost when you’re still standing on the ground. I hope you dust yourself off and try again. I hope you’ll learn that the bravest thing in life isn’t climbing a mountain, but bravely offering your whole self to this world. I pray you’ll be brave enough to follow Jesus over every mountain and through every valley he leads you to.”
We all want to raise brave children, but that bravery starts with us!
Be brave enough to disappoint people.
Writer Jemelene Wilson says “Bravery means I’m a selective listener to the voices pressing into my soul.” Brene Brown puts it this way: “Do not think you can be brave with your life and your work and never disappoint anyone. It doesn’t work that way.”
If we want to practice bravery, we have to let go of people-pleasing and find our identity in the One who created us. Being brave will force us to make hard decisions and will inevitably cause us to disappoint people. When our identity is rooted in Christ, we don’t have to fear the opinions of others. We can live with bravery and purpose.
Be brave enough to fail.
Jon Acuff writes, “Be brave enough to be bad at something new.”
CrossFit turned out to be something I love, but I pushed through a lot of months of being really terrible at it. In morning meetings, I told my students how hard it was and how much I wanted to quit. It taught me the importance of being real in front of my students. At the end of that school year, I showed them a picture of me flipping tractor-trailer tires and earned a lot more credibility for my “We can do hard things” mantra. Now I choose to do a new hard thing each year and to let my students watch me be unsuccessful. We talk about the power of “yet.” This year I’m learning to play the ukulele. And you know what? I’m not good at it— yet!
When we model failing for others, we share our brave with them. We encourage them to take risks and grow.
If being brave is one of your goals for this new year, start today! Try something new. Accept disappointing people. Be willing to fail. It will be worth it.
is a sassy, Southern coffee lover who spends most of her days with a classroom full of little people. Hannah loves serving in the local church where her husband is an associate minister. She is passionate about gathering her people around the table over good food and even better conversation. Hannah blogs at thissweetlybrokenlife.com.
Photograph © Fionn Claydon, used with permission
