October Word of the Month:Brave

It has been many many months since I first spoke about being brave. I remember exactly where I was,and who I was with at the time. It was mid -July of 2013. I was having lunch with some friends and in the middle of the conversation I offered up that for the first time in a long long time I felt no fear. I proclaimed that I was living every day,one day at a time in the absence of that gnawing fear that seemed to have accompanied me for decades.
As I have made my way along this Journey, I have come to realize that being brave is not about being fearless. Sometimes,my bravery is summoned in the face of fear. There are those moments when I feel the fear and do it any way.
Bravery is not giving in to fear.
I'm not talking about any specific heroic act. I have not run into any burning buildings lately.I have not risked life or limb to rescue any one.Nor have I come to the aide of a damsel in distress. I have not had any fiery breathing dragons to contend with and have not faced off with a a crowd during a zombie apocalypse.
That does not mean that fear has not presented its ugly face to me. There have been dark days when getting out of bed has been a struggle. There have been occasions when the fear I felt has been so overwhelming that I could barely breath. I have been momentarily paralyzed ,unable to concentrate and incapable of holding a cohesive conversation.
Yet some how,I have and continue to have found the inner strength,the courage,the bravery, to move past those fears. 
Maybe I have acquired new tools to cope with fear.
Maybe, my life experiences have taught me how to move past my fears.
Maybe I am wiser and more knowledgeable than I once was.
Maybe I am more mature.
Maybe it's all of these things.
I believe some call it wisdom.
Bravery, like wisdom, is not a cloak or cape you don.Only Superman jumped into a phone booth to put on his cape. That did not make him brave.
Brave is like the skin you wear. It is omnipresent. It protects your inner being from the elements.
Bravery is not summoned. 
Brave is a way of being.
And that's my wisdom for today.


Shabbat Shalomm!