This quick little post may seem familiar to those of you who follow me on Instagram. I posted these words yesterday afternoon and felt they needed a more permanent home, somewhere you could visit time and time again in case you need to hear this message more than once.

I picked up Glennon Doyle Melton’s Carry On, Warrior as part of my initiative to read more quality nonfiction this summer and, friends, I am SO glad I did! So many nuggets of truth are scattered throughout these pages. I feel like Melton succinctly sums up so much of what I want to say to each and every one of you over a casual coffee date. The kind of coffee date where we talked about love and grief and giving yourself grace and what it means to be brave.

“Brave is not something you wait to feel. Brave is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.”

Read that again if you have to, friend. Bravery is a choice, one that you are wholly capable of! Bravery may seem scary and incredibly intimidating, but it brings such freedom in its wake. Bravery allows us to stand up for our beliefs, to defend the defenseless and step into our own skin with grace and ease. It won’t fall into your lap when you’re not looking, though. You have to choose to own it, and you can totally do it, lovely. I believe you are braver than you know.