Older and Braver?

People sometimes say that you get "older and wiser" as you age, but do you also get older and braver? The older I get, the more (reasonable) risks I find myself willing to take. I find that I am willing to try a few more things that will not work out. I am willing to stick my neck out for things that really matter. I am realizing that I will survive, even if I get embarrassed and/or I fail.

I think I care less and less about what other people think as I get older. That helps me take reasonable risks. Where in the past, I feared looking, "silly," now I embrace that I may look silly because I am. I may look silly and have fun. I may look silly and enjoy my life. I may look silly and actually get what I want out of life, and all of those are good with me!

I have made enough mistakes to know that there is a redo, or a "next time" for most of them. Where there is not, there is recovery from most. When the potential consequences of an action are more extreme or dire (eg jail, death, or imprisonment), maybe that is not a reasonable risk to take.

I speak my mind more. Maybe that is not a good thing. I am sure I need to practice more self-control. Still, in most situations, I find that a breath prayer and speaking my mind early on is far better than keeping things inside and exploding later. That has bigger consequences. 

I regret not being braver in some past situations. Why didn't I go get a picture with Olympian Molly Seidel when I saw her at a race? Why didn't I go talk to marathoner Steph Bruce when she was just a few feet from me? Fear. Fear of looking silly. Fear of not knowing what to say. Fear of getting turned down. But would I have survived all of these things? With God's help and the support of those who love me, yes.

I have taken more risks this year. I trained for and ran a half-marathon while my husband was finishing his degree. It was arguably one of the most stressful seasons of our life, and not the best timing, but with God's help, I did it, and I survived. I went up to fourth place Olympics Trials Marathon finisher Jess Tonn and asked for a photo after Pat's Run. She graciously granted it, and even chatted with me for a bit. I have published more posts on this blog about things I was scared to talk about. I went to a demo run for a new Brooks shoe. It was a new place and new people and I had to run my own race, as I was not as fast as the group runners. Still, it was all worth it, for me, at least.

Maybe it is selfish to be more about me these days, but I hope that in doing so I can be an example to those younger than me (and others in general) that while we should take life seriously because we only get one life, we should also enjoy life and take reasonable risks, because we only get one life. We only ever get older, so why not grow braver, too, if not just for ourselves, but maybe to inspire the world around us also?