Glennon Doyle

She said, “I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles…Nothing.”

That is not the understanding of brave I want my children to have. I do not want my children to become people who abandon themselves to please the crowd.

Brave does not mean feeling afraid and doing it anyway.

Whether you are brave or not cannot be judged by people on the outside.

Sometimes being brave means letting everyone down but yourself. Amma’s brave is often: loud and go for it. Tish’s brave is often: quiet and wait for it.

They are not divided between what they feel and know on the inside and what they say and do on the outside. Their selves are integrated. They have integrity.

her integrity required her to resist the pressure of the crowd.

Brave is not asking the crowd what is brave. Brave is deciding for oneself.

What you know to do might be the opposite of what others are telling you to do. It takes special bravery to honor yourself when the crowd is pressuring you not to. It’s easier just to give in.

Regardless of what others are calling ‘brave’ at the moment: You stay loyal to yourself.