“Courage is a kind of salvation.” -Plato

Years ago I gave my son a children’s book about courage that illustrated the many small ways that we learn to find courage as we grow up. Everything from standing up and giving a speech in front of the class to saying goodbye to a close friend who is moving away. Starting new schools, new jobs, or new habits all take courage.

Endings take courage too. At least that is how it feels as I come close to the end of this positivity quest challenge. On the one hand, I feel like I accomplished the goal of changing my mind. I am, without question, a much more positive person today than the woman who began this quest a year ago. The first thoughts that come to me now as I face daily challenges are best case scenarios. Fear and anxiety rarely has a story attached and sitting quietly with it in meditation transforms it into something I can hold.

All of the good habits that I have developed over the course of the year should be enough to keep this positive world view alive, but although I feel ready to stop my midnight blogging, it has been, in part, my commitment and discipline to this blog that has kept me both honest and courageous.

Courage has been a running theme throughout the positivity quest blog because as C.S. Lewis wrote: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” Courage is the foundation for embracing change – both the letting go and the moving forward that real positivity demands. It takes courage to explore the heights and depths of who you are, to imagine a life you want and believe you deserve it, to begin again – as many times as necessary.

Courage is an open heart that saves us and the legs that stay put when fear tells us to run. This positivity quest gave me a truer self than I have ever known and access to a continuous flow of courage.