5 Easy Ways to be Brave Right Now

1. Get out of your comfort zone.

"Discomfort may be a doorway; don't run from it." ― Joseph Deitch

We've all been there. Life is going along great. We don't have any big problems hanging over our heads, and there isn't anything big looming on the horizon. It sounds like a great place to be. The problem is that we aren't challenging ourselves.

We can continue to coast along, or we can move, just a little, out of our comfort zone and into our stretch zone. The stretch zone is where we feel a little uncomfortable, but we aren't panicked. How do we get there? Start by doing something little that you've always wanted to do but haven't had the courage to try yet.

You could try a new craft or make a phone call that you have put off. Maybe you've always wanted to listen to more classical music (or rap, or country). Take 30 minutes and do it. Meditate. Do ten minutes of exercise. Whatever it is, just do it.

2. Forgive Yourself.

"Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself." -Maya Angelou

It might sound easy, but we all harbor things that we haven't been able to forget about and haven't been able to forgive ourselves for doing (or not doing). It's scary to think that we have done things that are not changeable. In order to forgive ourselves, we have to be able to face things about ourselves that we'd rather leave buried.

Courage is being able to look at ourselves critically but is also being able to set aside criticism and realize that in order to grow, we need to let go of shame. Shame prevents us from being our best selves. If we are holding on to shame and withholding forgiveness from ourselves, we will always be afraid of being reminded of things we've done (or haven't done).

You don't have to forgive yourself for everything right now. You don't even have to forget the things that you did that required forgiveness. Forgiving yourself is a brave thing. It allows you to change your story, and after all, life is about change and growth.

3. Invite someone to do something with you.

"She was never quite ready, but she was brave." -Rebecca Ray

There is a sentence designed to invoke fear. Working up the courage to ask someone to spend time with you is hard. All the "what-ifs" come crashing in on us. What if the person we ask doesn't like the thing we've planned? What if they say no? What if they say yes?

Of course, all of those what-ifs are negative, but we can turn them around. What if you have a great time? What if the person you ask has been wanting to ask you but couldn't work up the courage? Invitations force us to put ourselves into a vulnerable position, but they also allow us to see the vulnerability in others and to be the person who supplies the courage for someone else to be vulnerable along with us.4. Say what's on your mind.

4. Say what's on your mind.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I'm not talking about starting a flame war on the internet or about telling off your boss. We can be very brave if we say things that matter to people who matter to us. Do doubt you've heard stories about people who are on their death beds, and they regret never have told someone who they really feel about them. Often, things that we mean to say never get said.

To bravely say what's on your mind could mean to open up your heart to someone else and tell them how you feel. It could also mean taking a stand, even if your voice is shaking. We all have unspoken thoughts, and, truthfully, many of those thoughts ought to remain unspoken. But the other ones, the thoughts that come to the tip of your tongue and freeze there because you are too afraid to say them, those are the ones that need to be spoken.

Call someone and say, "I love you." Tell your friends how much they mean to you. Complement a stranger when you think they have great hair or cool shoes. Take a moment and decide to actively say things that make the world a better place, even if you feel momentarily foolish.

5. Ask for help.

"Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength." -Barack Obama

It seems so obvious. If we are having trouble doing something, we can just ask someone to help us. That works really well if the issue is opening a jar of pickles, but it becomes fraught when it has to do with asking someone to help us do something that is scary. In fact, it can be one of the scariest things we try to accomplish.

Asking for help is to be completely vulnerable. It means that we cannot accomplish something fundamental. Once we are willing to consider asking for help we are admitting to ourselves that there is some way in which are not self-sufficient. Maybe we were shamed for asking for help. We hear a voice from our past saying, "Can't you do that?" or worse, "Why can't you do that?"

The truth is, there are things we just can't do or are nervous about doing, and asking for help means we are showing that weakness to the world. Once we ask, we find, more often than not, that many people struggle with the same things we do. If many people struggle, then asking for help is actually a way to help two people. It helps us to solve our problems, and it helps the person we are asking to see that they are not the only person who struggles with things.

Asking someone to listen to you for a few minutes, or to help you be accountable for that exercise you've been meaning to do every day, or even to sit next to you while you make that phone call you've been putting off are great ways to ask for help. Once you can ask for a little help, a "big ask" becomes a lot easier.

That's it. Five ways to be brave. They don't require anything more than baby steps. It can be intimidating, even terrifying, but I promise you that once you take a small step, you'll see that being brave isn't so hard after all.

"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don't wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope" - Barack Obama

What is keeping you from being brave? What are your top 5 ways to be brave?