Iona Winter

I’ve never been one for making New Year’s resolutions. I think I learned a long time back that they are very rarely held onto for the entirety of a year, and (for the most part) join the piles of discarded, unwanted Xmas presents in the bottom of dusty drawers somewhere.

This year however, I’ve decided to be more brave. I’m not sure in what context, but let’s just say it came to me while I was cleaning out the chook house this morning.

“Be more brave” – simple as that.

I count myself as someone who is (more often than not) quite prepared to take risks (usually calculated ones). While I have often been described as brave (for a variety of reasons we don’t need to go into here), it’s not a word I think I’ve ever used to describe myself.

In thinking about my (clear as a bell) words this morning, I’m wondering if “be more brave” might mean being more connected with ‘brave’ as a word, rather than an action. Although they do say, actions speak louder than words (whoever ‘they’ are). So, what would “be more brave” look like as an action?

Perhaps it means ‘be less afraid’, or ‘be fearless’. That could paint me as a bit of a wimp (not that I’ve got anything against wimps). I think it would be fair to say that facing lions and tigers in the wild is probably over-rated (in terms of being brave). And I don’t think this is the kind of brave that’s required here.

Words and their meanings have power, and the power attached to them can be of our own making or those from (the stockpile of internalised voices of countless) others. That said, my hunch (which is fast developing) is that I need to find my own meaning in the word ‘brave’. And then apply it to my life. Oh how I love my tome of a dictionary (at times like this):

Brave 1 adj 1 courageous; fearless 2 excellent; splendid

Brave 2 verb to face or endure (unpleasant or dangerous conditions) with courage

I immediately felt an uncanny resonance with the words ‘excellent’ and ‘splendid’. Therefore, my afternoon will be spent sitting in the sun (or beneath a shady tree) pondering those two words further.

Happy 2015!