We often limit courage to the kind of heroic acts we see in movies. However, in my opinion, you don’t have to climb Everest or change the world to show courage. Don’t get me wrong, these examples are courageous without a doubt. What I am saying is that courage shouldn’t be limited to these acts alone. What we lack to see is that courage is also in the littlest of things.

Take, for example, waking up in the morning. It may seem trivial to us, but it isn’t. Opening your eyes and getting ready to face a new day and all the challenges it may bring is no small matter. It takes a lot of courage to get ourselves out of bed and face a new day, despite what we fear might happen, despite everything that happened to us the day before.

I recently started working at a new job. Because I’m still at the beginning, I have yet to fit in completely. It is still hard for me to wake up in the morning, to be motivated to keep going and carry on.

This is why I’m trying to remind myself of this mantra all the time. I need to remember that even the small things that seem so of the ordinary for me mean much more. The fact that I carry on, that I fight and have belief and hope, shows courage, and I remind myself of that every day.

Our Everest is made of months and days, made up of pushing ourselves forward. The world we need to change is our own. Courage doesn’t have to be made up of a war zone, as often it is a quiet battle with ourselves. It is the light at the end of the tunnel that reminds us that we are strong. That there is hope.