Be Brave With Your Life

 As many of you know I am studying to be a Yoga Therapist. I was recently at Kripalu Center For Yoga and Health for a 10 day training. It is such a lovely place and the Mothership of my yoga teacher education these past 12 years. The facility is vast, and we eat, sleep, study, and play in two very large buildings that are connected by a passageway and many flights of stairs. As you can imagine, it is not hard to walk 10,000 steps per day. Everyday, as I passed the reception desk, I was greeted by the quirky, colorful presence of the above rock - misshapen, tilted, leaning against a lamp. At first I thought, "What a great mushroom!" But, after 10 days of walking past this gentle command 4, 5, 6 times a day, I began to look forward to the message and started to think about exactly what being brave means to me.    

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, brave can be used as ad adjective, a noun and a verb. I have decided to focus on the adjective definition because, for one, I am not an American Indian Warrior (noun), and two, because I no longer live in NYC and don't have to brave the rush hour traffic (verb).

BRAVE:

Having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty; having or showing courage 

So...drum roll...for me, being BRAVE is to completely and unequivocally honor and celebrate my talents, my thoughts, my ideas, my choices...to be my own heroine!  Regardless of it's grammatical roots, the above statement relinquishes my need to make everyone happy and comfortable at the expense of my happiness and comfort. In a nutshell, I may say "no" from time to time, I may take a day off now and then, and I will try to live according to my values.