Brave

A couple of months ago I took my first ever yoga class.  Walking in my knees were knockin', and it wasn't from excitement...

I think its safe to say that most folks suffer from some form of social anxiety at one time or another.  Mine is strongly related to perfectionism. I don't like trying new things in public, because I want to do them perfectly, and I know I'll screw it up.  I don't want anyone to see me fall on my face and knock over all of the "downward dogs" next to me like a set of bizarre human yoga dominos... Phew, what a nightmare!

Maybe some of you grew up playing sports, but I've never been very talented in that area, and my recent endeavor into the world of physical fitness has centered on running and weight lifting, neither of which require, well, you know... grace.  So, needless to say, taking a yoga class was very far out of my comfort zone and required quite a bit of bravery.  A sorta silly kind of bravery (what kind of an adult is afraid of yoga?!?), but bravery none the less.

Sometimes, I think we psych ourselves out.  We become aware, or we've been told, that we are not good at something.  And based on that knowledge, or supposed knowledge, we make a decision.  We decide to 1) try to become better at that thing, or 2) avoid it all together - because who wants to expend the effort of trying and still end up failing?

I don't know about you, but I often tend to fall into that second category.  And I've got news for you, that second category?  Yeah, that's all about fear.

Do we let our fears make our decisions for us?  Maybe.  And if so, what a tragic way to live!  And certainly not brave.

But what is brave?  Putting on a brave face when things get tough?  Nah, that's just putting up a front.  In fact, I think many of the times I've thought, during the moment, that I was being brave, I was actually just faking it 'til I made it.  So, bravery?  Well, I might be wrong, but it seems to me that "bravery" is not the antonym of "fear".  In fact, I think the two are often sharing the same space simultaneously in our brains.  Why?  Because fear is a feeling, something that comes naturally when we feel threatened.  That feeling is not the problem, it's whether we allow it to continue, and even control, how we live our lives.  And bravery, I believe, is just making a choice to trust God with that fear, and do the very best that we can in each situation.  And really, what requires more bravery than trust?

Not to mention, I think it's pretty apparent that God wants to reassure us that fear is something that we need to hand over to Him, considering how many times "fear not" is said in the bible (over 100 times!).

So, be brave friends, and lean on an everlasting and ever-loving God!