People have said to me that I’m very brave. They tell me it takes a lot of courage to move so far at this stage of my life. I’ve cleared out three houses in the last couple of months and moved myself, my car, and most of my belongings to Los Angeles from the east coast. It’s been a long journey of many trips to Goodwill, donations to the library (how I hated parting with even one book), and packing.

Pixabay

Pixabay

I’m not moving for a job. I really don’t know many people out here, although my family is here. I’m unfamiliar with the territory. It’s pretty much a blank slate.

Now I can look at this blank slate as scary, threatening, and daunting. Or I can see the opportunity and excitement of creating new relationships and experiences. I see the blank slate as the chance to start fresh with the wisdom of what life has taught me so far. Today is truly the first day of the rest of my life.

I never considered myself exceptionally brave before, but I do know this, acknowledging my courage is very empowering. We rarely take the time to do this. We discredit ourselves, magnify our failures, all of which keeps us small.

But none of us are small! We are all courageous in our own way. We all possess the courage to fight our battles and overcome our obstacles. And even though it may all seem overwhelming at times and even though we are often frightened and discouraged, we need to rediscover, acknowledge, and reward ourselves for our resilience, bravery, and persistence.

How did you show your courage today? Did you have a difficult conversation with a loved one or co-worker? Did you challenge yourself to speak up in a meeting? Did you carve out some time from your busy schedule for self-care? Did you ask for a promotion or raise?

There are many ways we demonstrate courage yet rarely acknowledge it. But like anything else, the more you do something, in this case the more you take on challenges, the more powerful you become, the more you grow.

Take baby steps and build up your courage muscle each day. Then make sure you give yourself a pat on the back for the effort as well as the result.