“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.

But sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. 

That is the sort of bravery I must have now.”

I stumbled upon this quote when I read Allegiant by Veronica Roth about a year ago (372 days, but who’s counting?).  After I read this paragraph, I had to stop and think about it. I decided I really liked what it meant and taped it on my wall. (I still have it on my wall today.) I love quotes, but I chose this one because these words have helped me through a lot when things got hard.  This quote isn’t really representative at the first glance- it seems more like advice, or reassurance. When you hear the word “bravery”, many people think of superheroes risking their lives or firefighters venturing into raging fires. But bravery does not have to be dangerous, it only needs to require physical or mental willingness to overcome an obstacle. Sometimes that obstacle isn’t obvious- there are days when you’re tired of everything and hate yourself, and it takes bravery to overcome this exhaustion and go to school. This quote told me that sometimes bravery doesn’t mean risking your life; you don’t need to be supernatural to be brave. There are times where it takes a lot of courage to face the pressure and expectations of your family and society. And if I didn’t do anything specifically productive that day, this passage told me it was great that I woke up that morning. If I continued to live my life according to this quote, I think I would gain more confidence to do little things that still require bravery- whether it be standing up to someone or taking a risk. So far, this quote has given me hope and helped me believe in myself, and I think it will continue to do so in the future.