Brave Is...

Brave is…

Brave is showing up.

Brave is not giving up.

Brave is loving yourself before you are perfect.

Brave is loving yourself at all. Brave is learning to be kind to yourself.

Brave is getting dressed when all you really want to do is hide under covers- hide from your life. Hide from your troubles. Hide from your children. Brave puts on that bright lipstick that makes you smile to see it in your reflection. Brave even likes to wear earrings; the kind that sway and chime when you turn your head.

Brave.

It's running errands when your spouse is home sick and can't do them, even though you have your own set of particularly womanly discomforts. It’s loading the dishwasher - again - even when the small tasks seem daunting. It’s staying home with the kids out of both necessity and choice. It's practicing gentle discipline and peaceful parenting. It’s pursuing your dreams now even though it might be easier when the children are grown. It’s admitting that you can’t cook dinner from scratch every night and the kids are going to survive with a few unpronounceable preservatives in their diet.

Brave is remembering to feed yourself.

Brave is practicing, every day, whether it seems like you’ll ever be good at it or not. It is accepting this season of life with all its unmet goals and still-too-distant dreams.

Brave is knowing it’s okay to be wrong, to change your mind, to mispronounce or misspell a word. Brave is being able to laugh and learn, even when embarrassed. Brave is breathing it out when you got upset after you promised yourself you wouldn't. Brave is owning the temper and saying sorry. Brave is bigger than pride.

Brave knows the consequences of love…

And goes right on loving anyway.

Brave says no to excuses.

Brave says yes, too.

Yes to you, yes to being you, yes to being all of who you are able to be.

Brave is on your side.

Embrace your brave today.

Written in response to a prompt "What does brave look like?" in Story Sessions Community "40 Days of Blogging" collective.