When you hear the word "brave," what images or stories come to mind?

Maybe you think about the Disney movie "Moana," where a young princess journeys across the ocean to save her village. She didn't know what was out there, she had never sailed out on the open ocean before, and she had no idea how she would defeat Te Fiti, the giant fiery monster who was posing a threat to everything she held dear! Yet she embarked on that journey anyway. Or maybe the story of Mildred and Richard Loving comes to mind. The Lovings were an interracial couple who married in Washington D.C. in 1958. They later moved to Virginia, where laws that banned interracial marriages had not yet been repealed. They were sentenced to a year in jail, and, of course, appealed that decision. The Supreme Court struck it down, finally declaring all prohibitions against interracial marriage unconstitutional. It couldn't have been easy to stand in the face of intense racism, but they did it anyway.

Examples like these, where someone overcame unbelievable adversity, are usually what people think of. Bravery, however, isn't restricted to boldness. It is not constrained to acts of reckless abandon or fearlessness. Bravery can be as simple as setting personal boundaries, sticking up for yourself, or saying "no" when you feel pressured to say "yes." Sometimes bravery whispers "keep going even if it's hard." Celebrate your small moments of courage this week, and recognize how brave you truly are!