What’s your Personal Brave Type?

We all know it’s brave to push some out of the way of a moving car or to save someone from a burning building but what about the idea that bravery is not a “one and done” or a once in a while act. What if bravery is an ongoing, constant, day by day choice? Bravery is love in action. Love for others and also love ourselves. Let’s talk about how we show up Brave for ourselves and others in big ways but also in our every day real lives. Remember, brave does not mean fearless. Brave often means full of fear but moving in love and integrity and choosing to continue to step forward.

Merrium Webster Dictionary defines Brave as:

1: (adjective) having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty : having or showing courage

a brave soldier

a brave smile

But they also list brave as a verb and a noun. 

There are actually 5 different types of bravery. We all fit into each category to some degree but some may resonate with you more than others. 

What are the 5 Brave types?

Physically Brave: The looks like taking action despite fear and the real possibility of physical harm.  Recently, during a reading I got to meet a fire fighter in the spirit world. He shared details of how he dedicated his life to being physically brave to the point entering a smoke-filled, burning apartment building where he believed a child to be trapped inside. Part of the building collapsed on him during his rescue efforts but the child lived because of his physical bravery. Some people make this a part of their identity and how they express in the world every day and agree to be available to spring into physical action as a part of their job (such as fire fighters, nurses, front line workers, soldiers, and so on). For others, you may only jump into physical bravery to push someone out of the way of a falling tree limb or to save a terrified dog who wandered out into the middle of traffic.

Ethically Brave: This looks like feeling compelled to stand up/ speak out for what is moral, humane, “the right thing”, even when (and often when) doing so is unpopular, or dangerous.  Ethically brave people are often Activists, fighters for the underdog, people who stand up for change. This can be in a big, public way as with The Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest that started in 1960, when young African American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being refused service. Many of the protesters were arrested but their actions made an immediate and lasting change, causing the Woolworth’s chain and other businesses to change their segregationist policies. In your own day-to-day life, being ethically brave might look like respecting people’s proper pronouns all the time (he/she/ or they), or it may even look like going back to the counter because the server gave you too much change at lunch.

Emotionally Brave: This type of brave is about feeling even when feeling is hard. There is usually risk of rejection and vulnerability built in to this version of Brave. It can look like talking about your challenging emotions in an honest way (instead of retreating or walling up), or maybe celebrating with your friend even when she got the promotion and you didn’t (holding joy and disappointment at the same time). It could also look like starting to date again after healing form a divorce (to love is brave). Or in the case of a client I had last week, quietly holding space for or sharing space with someone while they grieve the loss of a loved one, where the air is filled with only emotions and no words at all. Emotionally bravery is about your own emotions but also about being brave in the face of the emotions of others. 

Socially Brave: This feels like being out on a public limb. Usually situation based, social bravery means stepping out of your comfort zone with or in front of others in a way that leaves you vulnerable to judgement, scrutiny, embarrassment or discomfort. This can look like anything from leading a team meeting at work, to going to a dinner with friends with your new haircut. It could also look like  going to the grocery store for someone with social anxiety, for example. One powerful image of being socially brave that you may have felt back in school happens in the school cafeteria. Think of the “popular” person who leaves the “cool table” mid lunch to go sit with someone who is perceived as awkward or “uncool” so they won’t have to sit all alone that day. For a high school student this is socially brave, love in action. 

Spiritually Brave: This looks like engaging in the the journey of personally evaluating, examining and evolving your understanding of “higher power”, “still small voice within”, universal/spiritual truths and your own relationship with faith. Some people treat this as a “one and done” task, finding or adopting a belief system with no room for personal evolution. Really, to be spiritually brave, you must been open to evolving as you unfold. It takes bravery not only to ask the bigger questions about life purpose, death, connection, etc but it is also brave to be willing to go on the journey to uncover the answers because it often means you will be changed in some way. At the very least, spiritual bravery requires a self examination that can be uncomfortable sometimes. Personal development along with intuitive development like we do in the Goddess Untamed program is an example of this type of spiritual bravery, requiring looking into the mirror of self, unfolding and evolving. Once you have deeply felt a spiritual truth, you can’t unsee it! 

It’s important to note that one type is not ranked higher or better than another, all are equally crucial for our lives. And as a society, we need people who have their strengths in the different brave types. Personally, I don’t believe in using labels to keep us in a box but I do find them really personally helpful when I am in a growth. A spiritual development or personal development just to help me more deeply understand myself. That’s how these categories are intended to be used, with love.

What types of brave can you identify in your own day-to-day life? Where might you be being called to express more uncomfortable bravery? Speaking up for others maybe? Volunteering to lead a team meeting at work perhaps? Being more emotionally open and vulnerable? Probably. 

Remember, bravery is an ongoing, constant, day by day (sometimes hour by hour) choice for each of us in unique ways. Brave is love in action. I invite you to sit with these tBrave Types and allow yourself to be open to not only demonstrating more bravery but also acknowledge yourself for the ways you already show up as BRAVE.

I’d love if you share one example in the comments so I can celebrate your Brave ❤️