How to Practice Being Brave
This is something that I have embarked on in the last few years of my life. And it has made all the difference. We talked a couple of episodes ago about the virtues that we want to cultivate in our lives that have been scientifically proven to increase our levels of happiness. And if you remember, one of those virtues was courage.
That’s where being brave comes in. This is a way that I have been trying to cultivate courage. I have a little thing that I do that I call “practicing being brave”. Courage and being brave is like a muscle. You have to use it in order for it to grow stronger and for you to cultivate more of it. This is how to practice being brave!
Ralph Waldo Emerson said “he who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret to life.” He puts that so beautifully because at the root of practicing, being brave and being courageous, that there is an underlying fear of some sort. So I have four tips for you today as always. I like to give you actionable items that you can do to emerge empowered and then I’m going to share with you a few of the ways that I have practiced being brave.
Go Outside of Your Comfort Zone
The first tip that I have for you today is practice going outside of your comfort zone. Try something new. Consciously and consistently practicing small acts of courage can have a cumulative effect. And if we start small, then we can start being brave in larger areas of our lives.
Practice going outside of your comfort zone — Ralph Waldo Emerson style every day.
Give Yourself Permission to Fail
Tip number two is to give yourself permission to faill. There have been several things that I have tried that were new and way outside of my comfort zone that I simply had to give myself permission to fail. And then it didn’t seem so scary.
We have this skewed perception as adults that we need to be naturally good at something. The first time that we try, and that is simply not true. More often than not, we are not going to be good at something that we try yet. If we persist in it, we will become really good at that. Or find something that brings us joy into our lives.
So give yourself permission to have what I like to call a “terrible first try”. Give yourself permission to fail and that helps the fear to dissipate.
Identify Your Underlying Fear
Number three is identify your underlying fear. Why are you afraid to do this thing? Just recognizing that fear helps to dispel that fear and it gives us power over it.
Do some deep soul searching and just see if you can identify the underlying fear and then practice being brave. If you can name a few, it lessens its power. Just recognizing the fear itself will help dispel some of that fear.
Encouragement from Self & Others
Number four is to find encouragement from yourself or others. Support and encouragement from others can be a powerful motivation.
And if you have a support system that can cheer you on, that’s wonderful use their help and let them cheer you on. I also want you to know that you can provide that for yourself and that you can cheer yourself on and by giving yourself permission to fail, then it just opens the doors for you to cheer yourself on through the whole process.
How to Practice Being Brave – Examples
I’d like to share with you today. A few examples of what I have done to practice being. So quite a few years ago, I had never actually gone on a backpacking trip maybe once when I was a teenager and we slept out under the stars and it was one night. It really wasn’t like a true backpacking trip. And I have a dear friend who loves to backpack and I decided I was going to practice being.
And I was going to go backpacking and I didn’t quite know what to expect and I didn’t even know if I would like it. I decided to practice being brave. And it turns out that I really enjoy backpacking. In fact, I just returned home from a ladies trip. I went on a backpacking trip with amazing, strong, capable, confident women.
And we went on an incredible backpacking trip and I have discovered something that I love because I practiced being.
Another example is I auditioned for a major production. I am a dancer and I used to own a dance studio. I love to dance and it brings me so much joy and I’m also getting older so my body count do all the things that it used to be able to do. But I still love to dance. I saw a flyer for auditions for a major production with a world renowned choir at Temple Square – Sutton Foster and Hugh Bonneville were going to participate in that production as well.
I told myself that I was going to go and just audition and I knew I was in my late thirties and I knew that there would be a whole bunch of college girls and that my chances were pretty slim of actually like making the cut and, and being a part of the production. But I hadn’t auditioned in a really long time.
And I decided I was going to practice being brave and sure enough, when I showed up, it was me in my late thirties, but the majority were college aged dancers. And I just kept cheering myself on. I made the first cut, then the second cut and eventually I was actually accepted as a dancer into this major production!
We had a three night run in front of a sold-out audience every night of 21,000 people. I have actually never danced in front of that many people before in my life. And here I was in my late thirties and got to experience a standing ovation in front of 21,000 people for three consecutive nights.
It was incredible all because I practiced being brave. I went outside of my comfort zone and decided to try something. I gave myself permission to fail and I knew that the chances were slim, that I would make the cut for this audition. Yet I gave myself permission to fail and to just go and have the actual experience of auditioning..
I identified the fear of just simply knowing I was afraid that my body wouldn’t be able to perform the way it had performed in my teenage years and my twenties. My husband encouraged me to audition and was my cheering squad. I didn’t actually dare tell anyone else I was auditioning, but he totally encouraged me to do it.
It was one of the experiences that I will never, ever forget. I actually got to meet Sutton foster and Hugh Bonneville. Hugh and I had the same stage entrance so I got to chat it up backstage with Hugh Bonneville and experience a standing ovation from 21,000 people!
It was pretty incredible all because I was practicing great being brave. So my latest example that I’d like to share with you of practicing being brave is this, as I was setting out this year on some, I sat down and I really wanted to look at my upcoming goals. And I found myself writing down that I wanted to be an author.
And that is something I have never even considered before. I thought, what is the first step to being an author? And it was to write an article and submit it for publication.
I am pleased to announce that my article was accepted by the latter day woman magazine. Where there issue number seven. It’s an online publication that I love their motto is. Your voice matters. And I just feel honored to be a part of their latest edition and invite you to visit them at www.latterdaywomanmagazine.com.
I hope by giving you some examples of practicing, being brave in my own life, that you can really ask yourself, how can I practice being.
Tapping into the Divine Power of “I Am”
by Ember Pilati
I forgot an appointment for my child, “I am so stupid” pops into my mind. When I lose patience with a teenager and “I am not cut out for this” comes instantly to my thoughts. I am struggling with a relationship with a close family member and I am a failure slips easily from my lips. We use the phrase I am on a daily basis.
It pops into our minds instantly. It flows so easily out of our mouths and we use the phrase without even thinking about it. But what follows those two little words matter. And mentally when Moses asks Jehovah, who he should say sent him as he freed the children of Israel, he chose that sacred phrase of, I am.
So the children of Israel would know that almighty Jehovah had sent him. He also declares himself. The great I am in DNC sections, 29 and 39. And in DNC 1 0 1 verse 16, he reassures the saints and then instructs instructs them to be still and know that I am God. This phrase is clearly a divine. During his time on earth.
Jesus made many declarations of, I am by studying how the savior used this phrase. We learn so much about how we can tap into the divine power of I am. If you look closely, you will see that whenever Jesus Christ used the phrase, I am, it was clearly a holy phrase. Here are a few references from the gospel of John.
I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the way the truth and the life, I am the vine.
In each of these instances, Jesus Christ use the phrase “I am” to do two powerful things. Number one, to declare truth and number two, to affirm his identity.
Are you using this phrase as the savior? We utilize powerful “I am” statements in the gospel – as children we sing the joyful truth “I am a child of God”. And as young women, we declare that “I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents”. Both of these examples also declare truth and affirm our identity. If we can pattern our use of this phrase after the savior, we can tap into his divine power in our everyday lives.
Like most things in this life, this phrase can be used for good or for evil Satan recognizes the power of I am and offers us lies to use after the phrase things such as I am a failure, I am ugly,I am worthless, I am lazy, I am weak, I am mean. And the list goes on and on Satan wants us to be discouraged, believe his lies and confuse us about our true identity. So he will offer us lies about who we truly are.
However, if we pattern our, I am statements after the savior, we can tap into his divine power. Here are a few powerful, I am statements to practice thinking saying out loud as affirmations or using as journal prompts. I am a divine soul, I am valuable, I am strong, I am enough, I am smart, I am compassionate, I am perfectly imperfect, I am a creator, I am lovable, I am amazing, I am capable, I am beautiful, I am one of a kind!
In Moroni 7:12 we learn that “everything that comes with of God and that which is evil come with of the devil”. As we contrast these two lists, it’s clear to see what cometh of God, and what cometh of the devil. We are all ready using “I am” statements in our lives, let’s choose them consciously and use them as Jesus Christ taught us how to declare truth and affirm our true and define identity.
You can use this powerful practice to remind you of your true identity and invite divine light into your life by either saying daily affirmations or as a journaling practice, I have found great power in a daily “I am” journaling practice. I write three statements, declaring truth and affirming my true identity. Every single. I have watched as the power of I am, has come into my life. And as I have been able to create who I desire to be by using this simple but powerful practice in my own life, try it out. It just takes a few moments a day.
When you invite the power of I am into your life. You invite divine power to flow through you as you declare truth and affirm your identity.
Practice Being Brave
Thank you for letting me share the article with you. I have had a really neat time writing and preparing the article for publication. In the process learned some truths and also practice being brave. So how do you emerge empowered this week? By getting out of your comfort zone, giving yourself permission to fail, identifying your underlying fear and encouragement from yourself and others. I am excited for you to practice being brave. As you do so I know that you will emerge empowered!
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