Braving Onto The Road Of Peace

Have you ever felt an urge to do something kind, like send a letter to an old friend or give a gift to a stranger, but then let fear or insecurity decide against it?

Painting "The Road to Peace" by Edie Roxburgh

Maybe you thought twice about sending the card, saying to yourself, "No, that's silly. That friend and I haven't talked in years," or feared looking foolish with the stranger, reasoning to yourself "normal people don't do things like that." Opportunities and gut urges to make the world a better place happen every day, but often times people brush them off as childish, never allowing the thoughts and ideas to come to fruition. It is not enough to feel an urge for kindness. If we want a better world overall, we have to be willing to first brave ourselves into taking action.

I personally pride myself on being brave, but my definition of "bravery" has been a bit skewed. Ever since I began my healing journey four years ago and began working on my goal of independence, I have triumphed in many ways, growing from a girl who was too scared to go out to dinner alone to a woman who has traveled the country solo. The word "brave" to me, however, has always had a rough connotation, summoning up images of shields and swords, weapons and barriers needed to fight and push forward in a scary world, but what if "brave" means something else entirely?

In order to make change from a violent world to a peaceful, loving place, we have to change our perception and definitions of qualities we aspire to have, such as "brave".

To retain the hard connotation of "brave" is to retain the hard perception of life, and so I am actively working to shift "brave" into a force necessary in a kind world. To believe the kind world already exists is to manifest its reality, and to believe "being brave" means taking action on those kind thoughts is to shift the definition and gain the power to tap into this new reality's flow. In this way, bravery becomes a part of the kind world, pushing for more beauty and peace, rather than one of the forces in opposition of it.

Now that we've got bravery on our side, let's focus on the ways we can utilize this quality to defeat the forces that want to curb our connection to the kind universe. The first step is to notice what is hindering us from following through with the action. Is it doubt? Doubt in your idea and doubt that it is good enough for the world? This is where thoughts like, "No, that's silly" or "No, that's childish" come from, but think back to when you were young--when drawing a picture for someone or leaving a note in another's locker was enough, more than enough. These small acts of kindness are like tiny flecks of magic in the world. The spontaneity in them and fearlessness is often what made being a child feel so much more beautiful.

Why has adulthood scared us out of these sweet urges? Why has adulthood made us fear our own individual form of creativity and ability for connection?

We all have it. We are all innately creative beings. Skill level and artistic standards are not a factor in the world of kindness. It is brave to paint a rock for a stranger or write a letter of love for a friend, and the feeling afterwards of taking the action rather than simply having the thought is both empowering and heart-opening. I would know. These are two specific ways I have personally spread beauty in the world.

Another force that can rear its ugly head on the road to kindness-bravery is fear and shame. I have felt both of these after having gone too far down the road of bravery in an ugly world. In a rough world, too much bravery by that realm's definition can lead to thick boundaries and a surplus of hard feelings that were used as a shield and to power through in a time of war, such as anger, belief in enemies, and vicious protection for yourself and those you set out to defend. When the realization sinks in that the same world where the war took place is the same world where peace and harmony needs to be discovered, you can find yourself standing alone, alive and strong, but also bloody and ashamed. In the old world, with the rough and tough exterior, you fit right in, but in the new world--the better world, the one we have all been fighting for--you stand out as a stark reminder of the darkness everyone wishes had never existed. This shift can be disorienting. In the previous world, the fight felt good, but in the peaceful world, there is no room for fighting. The fights of the past, no matter how good their original intentions, can open up shame and cause a person to feel as if they don't belong in the kind world. Rather than the doubt being in the act, the doubt now is in the individual.

In this case, remind yourself this: It is never too late to enter the kind world. In the new reality of peace, fighting no longer exists, but in its place, forgiveness and an abundance of kindness opportunities are revealed. Don't let shame and fear of the starkly different world stop you from being a part of the peace. It took bravery to carry the shield and sword, but it takes an entirely new form of bravery to disarm yourself and put the shield down. With each kind thought manifested through action, you will start to crack down the walls that divide and instead build bridges. It is brave to forgive. It is brave to open up and allow others to open up too. It is brave to love your comrades, but it is even braver to blend the previous boundaries and smudge out the bold type of enemy, writing in words of love to replace the hate and create more friends.

Once you have identified and faced the forces keeping you from entering the kind world, the only other step you need to take is to manifest its reality. You are a manifestor. You have the power to change the world. Change it for the better, every day, in small ways, with humble steps. Send that card. Make that stranger smile. Go be brave, brave in the sense that kindness is calling upon us--we simply need to act.