I believe in courage. Throughout our lives we will be thrown down, kicked, punched, maybe even shot (maybe not literally but we may feel like it), but all we need to get through anything that life may throw our way is courage. Some may believe that they are invincible. Others may believe that they can’t stand up after life has pushed them down one too many times, but every person has the potential to get through anything. It all depends on courage.
Everyone has times in their life where courage is one of the only things that he or she will have to get them through the tough times they may face, and I am no different. I have lost three close people to me and everyday I still have to find the courage to continue. The most significant of these losses was the death of my dad eight days before my twelfth birthday. It was almost seven years ago and yet to this day I can still remember almost everything that happened the day that a policeman came to my front door and told my mother and I that he had hit a semi truck head on and had died instantly. I remember the weeks, months, and even years after his death when I had to remain strong for my mother and sister. My family went from two incomes, my father’s income being significant, to only one. Things that we had never thought twice about were pushed to the front of our minds. The safety net of the family of four that had been our life for almost twelve years was thrown out of the window, whether we liked it or not. The knowledge that life as we knew it had changed, and there was no way to get it back knocked us to the ground and seemed to hold us there. Relationships, past, present, and future, were altered forever. People we had not talked to for years came back into our lives and have remained. The ability, for me personally, to get close to any person knowing that in a minute they could be taken from me, affects the relationships I have now and the relationships that I will create in the future. Courage helped me get through the losses that I have faced in the past and will help me get through the losses I will face in the future.
Everyday when a person wakes up they will never know what the day may throw at them. Though most people don’t think about it, waking up and getting out of bed each day takes courage. Courage is something that every man and woman must have to get through life. It is inevitable. There are times in our lives that will require courage that may not seem easy to find at the time, but these times will only make us stronger. Courage is all it takes.