This One’s About Bravery

And a little about politics.

We are less than a month from the election. Where has the time gone?

In the recent political musings report, I said I wanted brave leaders. I proposed that being creative, collaborative, and embracing experimentation took bravery.

But lately, I’ve challenged myself to go a little deeper on this bravery concept.

Merriam-Webster defines bravery as this: “the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty.”

I love that.

There are times in my life when I’ve been brave, but in the moment, it didn’t feel like bravery, and often I don’t think it does. I think it feels like loneliness, and isolation, and even like a flag in the wind – whipping about. Looking back, time and perspective are gracious enough show me the times I’ve been brave.

Bravery is becoming synonymous with standing up to the masses or dissenting voices. But I think that belief falls short of the real meaning of bravery. Simply standing up to those that disagree with you skips over the part about “mental or moral strength.” If we really think about it, in order to be brave, you have to have the moral high ground, and at the very least a moral center. You must have a rutter in the storm. That is to say - a belief or ideal that doesn’t change. It remains the same no matter what. A constant Truth. We as people are the ones that change.

Changing isn’t bad. In fact, we should learn, grow, and evolve in our thinking as issues - specifically political ones - become more real to us. But we should always keep the benchmark of what “good” looks like. Conservatives, Libertarians, and Liberals define good differently. That’s the root of all policy disagreements and should be. It makes for a healthy debate.

I think bravery demands more from us than a different way of thinking or a different definition of “good.” Bravery demands a deeply held understanding of morality. To be brave, we have to be on the side of something that extends beyond ourselves. Something that represents a worldview bigger than our one story.

Politics and elected officials rarely operate like that now. There are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, the political machine, media, and the way we consume information doesn’t incentivize the denial of one’s own story for the moral high ground.

Bravery today is countercultural. And honestly, bravery isn’t all that sexy. It’s certainly not a friend to the media soundbites. Could it be that being brave today is what happens outside the soundbite?

Could it be that being brave today means being boring?

These days, we could use a little more boring.

Be brave,