The Art of Being Brave

"Being brave means doing what you are afraid to do."

A couple of years ago I got a tattoo on my wrist that says "No fear". Not because I am fearless but just as a reminder to myself that I should not let fear take over. When you think about it fear is actually a good thing. It pushes your limits, it challenges you, it makes you grow and leave your comfort zone. Because this is the worst place you could ever be at - the comfort zone.

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Theodore Roosevelt

When I was 27 years old, I still used to live with my mother in Sofia, Bulgaria. I had a job that I hated and I had never experienced anything exciting except from that one time when I was 19 and ended in a hospital after a party, because I had some bad liquor. Not that my life sucked or anything but it wasn't really a life. It was more of an existing. So all of a sudden I decided that I need to leave my bubble and do something crazy. I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend at the time (who by the way was great and that was a very hard thing to do), and moved to Spain. This is when my life changed...for good. It was so difficult in the beginning although I had family in this small tourstic town so it wasn't like I had to do everything myself. But it was scary and exciting at the same time. I spent 3 years in Benidorm and I experienced so many things there - I learned Spanish, made some friends, worked as a bartender (I had never thought before I could hold four glasses in my small hand), fell in love, got my heart broken...That was the craziest time of my life. Sometimes I look back and it feels like a dream, or like a scene from a movie.

The real change came for me a year ago, when I turned 30. This is a tricky age because you start thinking: "What am I doing with my life?". And of course your family and friends kindly remind you that you need to get married, have kids and settle down. But I knew that I needed something more than settling down. I wanted to learn things, to be an explorer, to meet people and to challenge myself. So I moved to Barcelona on my own. And this huge step turned my world upside down and made me see it from a different perspective. I became stronger and more independent. And this is how I started saying "Yes" to anything. I made this bucket list of things I want to do until the rest of the year, you know, like a new year's resolution (unlike most people I actually achieve mine). So when an opportunity presents itself, I take it.

"The end of your comfort zone is where magic happens."

A lot of people have been telling me lately: "What a great life you are living." I smile back at them and say: "Indeed". The past year was probably the best year of my life so far. I grew up a lot, learned how to love myself first and how to make the most of my life. No, I am not taking any illegal substances, it is a state of mind. Don't get me wrong, I surely don't feel happy and excited 24/7. We are all afraid sometimes and that's okay. When I wake up in the morning I don't look myself in the mirror saying "You are brave, you can do anything" (it's also okay if you do it). Because this is not something that I will see in the mirror, it is already in my heart.

The best advice I have been given is "Take chances! Life's too short not to try new things". Ever since I heard that I keep telling myself that risk will take me further than fear. I am not saying you should jump off a cliff or do something completely reckless, but experince something new once in a while. Believe me, it will make your life so much more colourful.

So you can either be courageous and go after what you really want or you can be afraid and stay where you are. But I am telling you - you will never regret being brave.