You can’t be brave and scared at the same time. Have you ever wanted to be brave, but couldn’t shake the fear?
I love this idea that you can’t be going down this road if you are actually want to go down that road. It forces you to decide: bravery or fear.
Biblically, we aren’t supposed to fear. The Bible states “do not fear” 365 times, one for each day of the year. This is because if we were afraid that would mean we aren’t putting our full trust in God.
When have you been faced with the opportunity to choose between the two? Which one do you tend to choose?
I had the opportunity to write a chapter in the 3rd volume of The Women of Courage book. It is similar to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. It has inspiring stories that uplift and warm your heart.
My chapter was all about the cliches I remember during times when I am scared, but remind me of courage. I’ll share a few with you:
It’s okay to not be okay - this is one that I feel like only came about recently. But this one challenges me on a regular basis as I like to hide my feelings and figure things out on my own. This cliche tells me that you should share your feelings and allow others to help you through it. Being courageous is not always about being “okay.”
Success doesn’t happen overnight. - yup, this is obviously true with business, but it also applies in other areas of our lives, like working out or mindfulness. How many of y’all out there work out for a week and look in the mirror and think, ummm why am I not seeing progress?? Is it just me?? The first time I practiced meditating I wanted to give up, because I’m not perfect at it.
A rising tide raises all ships - this is about how uplifting others does nothing to your ship but raise it up too. Imagine the good vibes around us all if we did this more often.
Leave things better than you found it - I like to think about the handful of times Ive gone canoeing or hiking - you never want to litter ,and of course, you can even pick up trash along the way. But really I like to think about what is your legacy, how will people remember the time you spent on something. Will you be making it better? Will your contributions be memorable?
Stick to your guns - shout out to my mama for this one - she tells my sister and I this on a regular basis. Know what you stand for and stick to it.
God is in control - this is where that whole choosing bravery over fear comes into play. Why would God give us the idea to pursue a dream if he didn’t want us to pursue it, if he didn’t think could pursue it. If you have a dream or something you want to achieve, go all in, 110% and know that God is for you and he has your back every step of the way - even if those steps don’t fall into place exactly how you thought they would. So change the word bravery to trust and now what do you choose? Trust or doubt? Will you trust Him or doubt Him?
I can’t imagine what my life would look like if I hadn’t dove head first into this podcast world. Trust me, it took a year to research podcasting, and then another year making the first season before I actually decided to share my work with the world. There was a lot whole of imposter syndrome going on during those two years. But I felt a pull to keep on going. What would have happened if I had doubted? Doubted myself and doubted God?
In just a few weeks I will be traveling to DC to teach international bloggers about using a podcast to help them build their brand. I teach in-person courses on how to start a podcast, and later this year, I will be launching my first online podcast class. Where would all this be if I had chose to tuck this dream away? I had no idea 4 years ago that one podcast would lead to these opportunities, but isn’t that the real beauty - we don’t know where these things will lead?
