Train the Brave, 2nd Edition

Epilogue

At the beginning of this book I suggested that it wasn't a book to be read in a sequential order. As such, it has no end. Which is fitting really, because living bravely doesn't either. Embracing your vulnerability and choosing to live more bravely, speak more bravely, love more bravely and dare more bravely is something you're called to do until your final breath. So rather than relating to bravery as a virtue to practise from time to time, think of bravery as something to infuse into every corner of your life, every choice you make and every step you take. That's when you'll be at your most powerful.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE, BE FEARLESS … EVEN IFYOU'RE NOT. LIFE REWARDS ACTION.

Of course, this whole living bravely concept is much easier said than done. I know because while I write and talk and live and breathe the message of courage, I'm not immune to fear and can sometimes cower to it. Which is why I also don't pretend to offer you a 10-step magic formula for becoming brave.

The truth is that neither this book — nor, for that matter, any book — can make you brave. Only you can. You'll do it by making the decision, again and again and again, not to let fear hold the balance of power in your life, but to trust yourself more deeply, to own your fears and then to step boldly, purposefully, through it — however uncomfortable or outright terrifying that may be. And every time you fall and fail — which you will — you'll forgive yourself for being human, get back up, brush yourself ...