I have to admit that I breathed a deep sigh of relief when the girls went back to school last week and the house was completely quiet and mine for the day. As the summer comes to a close, I always long for the return to routine and nurture a deep nostalgia for school supplies with back-to-school shopping. Despite the stresses of schooling, I still appreciate the privilege and excitement of learning, something I hope to pursue my entire life in less formal ways.
After a cup of coffee, I set about to tackle the laundry and entered my younger daughter's bedroom, expecting to find a trail of dirty clothes strewn about as is her habit when the whiteboard above her bed caught my eye. She had made a reminder list for the morning of the first day of school, which included typical concerns for a thirteen-year-old girl:
- Jean shorts and pink shirt
- Hair?
- Make lunch
- Pack phone
Then, at the bottom set off in a box for emphasis, she wrote, "BE BRAVE." My younger daughter likes to write down her thoughts as much as I do and has never shied away from openly sharing her writing of stories, notes, school work, cards, songs, and more. I knew all about her anxieties about 8th grade, how once again she had been assigned to a different team from all of her close friends. My husband and I tried to bolster her up for the first day, knowing it would get better once she got there and saw that she would have no trouble managing the setting.
Still, I couldn't help but feel such joy and pride and awe at the two words, written in red ink from her hand: BE BRAVE. As an adult, I wondered how I might benefit from writing these encouraging words to myself more often. More importantly, I wondered how often I place myself in a setting or situation that challenges me enough that bravery may be called upon. Do I play it safe too often? Do I let fear get the best of me, thinking that safety is the absence of fear when the absence of fear is really stunting my growth?
Being brave is moving forward despite the fear. I know that. Now, I know that better, deeper after a reminder written by someone else, for someone else, caught me perchance and stuck. I love it when life lessons come out of nowhere and plant firmly in our souls. See, I am still learning. Let me write it here: I will BE BRAVE as I refurbish this wonderful, unexpected, and rich life.
