You
If I was a kid perhaps I would have said that marching toward a battlefield or fighting off an opponent twice your size is what bravery is.
But I'm no longer a kid.
Marching towards the battlefield is what I consider a show of bravery but the battlefields have changed. Instead of charging guns blazing, I see you fight on your own with weapons that you made or tools that you possess. I see you standing in front of harsh situations that test your limits. Even when your daily life turns into a battle, you face it. Sometimes a whole day seems like a battle and you are still brave enough to see the next day - prepare to face tomorrow.
But no one sees your fight.
Everyone thinks that your life is good and things are how they should be - but you know better. Only you know how much of a struggle it is to get up from the bed every single day and you still do it. People sneer at you and drag you down yet you keep going. But no one appreciates your efforts. That falters your steps but somehow you find the courage to keep going through the day by the day - often one day at a time.
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You have changed the definition of bravery.
Your battlefield doesn't look like a battlefield to others but it is a warzone. And you're fighting alone; facing your enemies alone. Sometimes you're fighting people and other times you're up against forces beyond your comprehension. And sometimes your opponent is yourself. You fight for your life; you fight for your happiness and others; you fight for your place in society - but your fight seems never-ending. You fight for one case today and then another cause tomorrow. If no one says it, I'll say it.
I say you're brave.
The courage you siphon daily to just to simply survive the day is commendable. And then you go to rest for the day; sometimes you lie awake in the dark and sometimes you manage to drift off to a dreamless sleep. Often you wake up to find yourself still drained - your lack of physical and mental energy takes a toll on you. Yet you haven't given up.
I know it hurts when no one sees how much you're struggling - the thing is they too are struggling and they're not even aware of it. They put up a façade and pretend everything is right as rain - just as you do sometimes. I'm not trying to undermine your courage. They haven't seen what you're capable of accomplishing but that's just because they themselves don't know how brave they had been hence they're not aware of yours. Regardless, you gathered all your courage and went on living your life.
Do I require more examples of your courage?
You see, you needed to hear from at least one person that you're brave. If it comes from me then so be it. I won't say it once - if it needs to be I'll say a thousand times more just so that the words "You are Brave" are etched in your mind. I'll say it as many times as it requires for you to believe it.
So I say yet again, You are brave.
P.S.: This is something that I have taken upon myself to write. I decided to call it a You Initiative. The purpose of writing is simple - these are words of acknowledgment and encouragement. It can be directed to yourself or others around you. We don't often get to hear these words.
And so I'm saying it.
