What do you think of when you hear the word “ Brave”? The dictionary defines brave as an adjective: “ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage” and as a verb to “endure or face (unpleasant conditions or behavior) without showing fear”.
Bravery is a trait that comes naturally to some people, while for others, it is something that they have to work at. Who do you think of when you hear the word, “brave”?
I’m blessed to be surrounded by so many brave men and women in my life. There are a lot of people I can talk about who inspire me because of their bravery, but I am going to focus on my siblings for this blog post.
My brother and sisters are some of the bravest people I know, and each have their own story. There are five of us- Laura, then me, Matthew, Aimee, and Emily.
Laura is the oldest and has always been the leader and the most organized of all us. She set the bar high with her grades, I’ve always admired her independence, and have tried to follow in her footsteps. Her senior year of college she found out she was pregnant. She chose not only to have her baby, but keep him and raise him. She told my parents once she found out, and then moved back home for extra support. How she handled the situation really shows her character and bravery. She is now married, has two more kids, and is working on getting certified in counseling.
My younger brother, Matthew, follows his passions and is also very independent. He moved across the country to attend school to pursue his passion and work towards becoming an airline pilot. He has had jobs with very early hours and braved extreme temperatures in North Dakota. He is a hard worker and will do what it takes to get his hours in to work towards his next certification. I’ve always admired his dedication- he knows what he wants to do, he makes a plan, and then sees it through.
Aimee is an aspiring musician and just transferred to Belmont University in Nashville to major in songwriting. I’ve always been amazed at her courage to get up on stage or post videos of herself singing. She is also not afraid to stand up for what is right or stand up for herself. I admire her courage to also take care of her health; she has anxiety and OCD and makes sure that she goes to therapy for help to work through her problems.
My youngest sister, Emily, has Tourette Syndrome. She started having vocal and motor tics in 1st grade and has been on many medications and seen several doctors to try to help control them. She just graduated eighth grade and is about to start high school in the fall. It is not easy for her to go out and have her motor and vocal tics and draw attention to herself. She has such a great attitude about it and I admire her courage.
As for me, I’ve never really considered myself to be a naturally brave person. Becoming a mom has forced me to be brave to help my kids in situations where I normally would not be; having to get a wasp out of the house ( I’m scared of anything with a stinger!), driving places I’m not familiar with, facing medical problems and learning about them. I am naturally an anxious person and normally would make a choice based off what gives me the least anxiety. I don’t like to go out of my comfort zone.
It’s human nature to feel overwhelmed and nervous; there is a reason that bravery is considered to be such an admirable trait. Everyone gets nervous about something- look at Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane! He was scared of doing what God called Him to do. But He died for us anyway. Mary must have felt terrified when she got asked to be the mother of Jesus and take on such an important role, but she still said yes to God. One of the things about being Catholic is that sometimes God calls us to go out of our comfort zones. We can look at the martyrs of the church and other saints who led by example. Many of them were probably scared, but they chose to stand up for their beliefs and follow God’s will.
Having anxieties is a part of being human. However it can also be used as a temptation from the devil to draw us away from God and give in to our fears. God puts situations in our life that require us to have moral courage to make choices that will lead us closer to Him. Our free will gives us the option to give into our fears or it gives us the option to be brave and face them.
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| My siblings and I the last time we were all together in person., July 2019. |
Bravery can be seen in many people, in different forms, and not just the super obvious/extreme ways. It can be seen in the woman who says yes to life, the man who knows his calling and pursues it, the woman who seeks treatment and therapy for mental health, the girl who embraces the way God made her even though every day is a challenge with her medical condition, and even in the young mom who faces her fears to keep her kids happy and safe.
Bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather being afraid and doing the right thing anyways.
How is God calling you to be brave?
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