Made To Be Brave

You are brave.

Yes, you. Maybe you’re shaking your head, thinking that these words are not for you.

But they are. Dear, when you came into this world, a spirit was breathed into your being. A spirit of love, of power and a sound mind. But you were not given a spirit of fear. Instead, you were given a beautiful and bold and unafraid spirit, a spirit made for stepping out.

Perhaps your spirit is tired. Perhaps it has been told many lies. Perhaps it has been through so many failures that it has believed the lie that you are unworthy. And perhaps, your spirit has let fear inside. Fear has claimed your soul as its own, and it has made your heart its home. Fear has made you give up on yourself, on your dreams and greatest desires. It has made you settle for much less than what you were created for. It has changed you. It has worn you out. Fear has dimmed the light that used to shine so in your heart.

But fear isn’t yours. Fear has found its way inside your heart but it does not belong there. Fear is not your portion. You were made with a loving and free spirit. You were made with a courageous spirit. Fear has no place in whom you are. You were designed to be brave, with a burning spirit. You were made to shine and to let freedom course through your veins. You were not made to run away. You were not made to hold back. You were made for so much more than fear.

Bravery has been locked up in your bones, waiting for you to realize that it has always been there, that it has always been yours. Bravery is part of your original design. It begins when you take the first step into freedom, into becoming who you were created to be, when you write the words you’ve been dying to write, when you make the art you want to make, when you no longer keep quiet about what makes you alive, when you live out your dreams, when you don’t deny yourself the chance to be free, to feel, to love, to dream.

You are brave. You are brave because you keep showing up every day. You are brave simply because you are alive. You are brave because bravery has been woven into your soul. Bravery is tangled in your hair. Bravery beats in time with your heartbeat. Bravery is tattooed on your skin. Bravery is in every step you take.

You are brave because you were made to be brave.

– image credit: Jocelyn Perez