Courage from Illinois

• If you're listening to this somewhere in the world, I want you to know…That there are more good people than bad in our world. You just need to tap into them.

• If you're listening to this story today, I want you to feel: Hope

"I used to think courage looked like big, loud moments — like standing on a stage or making a life-changing decision overnight. But for me, it looked a lot quieter.

It looked like leaving a relationship that everyone else thought was “good enough,” even though I felt myself disappearing in it. It looked like sitting alone in my car afterward, wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

There were days I wanted to go back, just to feel familiar again. But something in me small, but steady kept saying, “You deserve more than this.”

So I stayed with the discomfort. I learned how to sit with myself again. I started rebuilding a version of my life that actually felt like mine.

Courage, I’ve learned, isn’t always fearless. Sometimes it’s just choosing yourself… again and again… even when it’s hard.

If you’re in a moment where you’re unsure, this is your reminder:
you are allowed to choose yourself too."