One of These Days

Courage

Prompt: Courage

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"
Mary Anne Radmacher

What do you think courage is? Is courage an innate quality, or can it be learned and developed?

When I think of courage, I think of my mom. My parents went through a lot of shit when they went through their bankruptcy. My dad was older (he was 52 when I was born, about 60 when they went through their bankruptcy and we lost everything) so he struggled after awhile to get a job. My mom had been a stay-at-home mom and she had to go get a job. In 2001, my dad got into a car accident and we ended up finding out afterward that my dad had macular degeneration. He had the "wet" version and lost all direct version and could only see out of his peripherals. Because of my dad essentially becoming disabled, it put a lot more onto my mom. We also didn't have a lot of money for things, but she always managed to make sure Christmas happened, our birthdays, that the bills were always paid, that my dad made it to every single appointment. She never complained, never got mad (she didn't even swear)(though she did get disappointed and I'd rather yeet myself from the top of a building than disappoint my mom), she just did whatever she had to do. She sacrificed a lot of herself for us, for my dad.

I think courage just is. Every day you get up and deal with your life, that's courage. Every day is courage. It might make it seem like courage is cheap, but life can be hard. Mental health can be really tough. Brushing your teeth could be courage. Making your bed. To others that's just something that can be done, but to someone who's fighting depression or anxiety (or both), it can be an accomplishment. Sometimes it's doing something you're scared of, but you're tired of being scared of it. It can be something like scared of the dark or maybe it's heights or spiders.

Courage can be loud, but yes, sometimes courage is quiet like a whisper. Courage is doing the things that make sure life keeps going and that your kids don't realize how tough it is.