Valor... it's a journey.

"Great courage in the face of danger",  is how valor is defined by the Oxford Dictionary.  I believe that valor is needed to navigate this life.  We each have our own battles for which we need courage, strength, and determination.  
How amazing to relish those moments where we can enjoy the strength we've gained from weathering a storm.  Each obstacle adds a little more strength to our character and gives us knowledge for future challenges.  
I believe that this strength also carries a component of embracing our value.  Without learning to love ourselves, we will not be able to make the healthy choices in our lives that we need to.  We will doubt our decisions.  We will follow the crowd.  However, when we learn our value, there is an inner strength that stands firm against attack, that believes in our inner voice.  When we give that inner voice as much weight as we give other's opinions, we grow stronger.  Each time we succeed, we believe in ourselves a little more.  And that is how we take fear and self-doubt and build it into valor.
How though can we build our self worth?  From my experience, we need to surround ourselves with support systems.  As a child learning to walk needs helping hands until they can stand alone, so we need positive supporters until we can learn to trust our own voice.  Friends, therapists, social circles, family, support groups, reading, music, these all have a place.  They won't be the same for all of us.  Only you can decide what form your support will take, who has proven worthy of the task in the past, and who is strong enough to be there for you now and on into the future.  Listen to your voice in choosing your support system, change it as circumstances change, or when one of them lets you down.  But whatever you do, believe in possibility.  Believe that each and every one of us here on this crazy planet has value.  Join me here every week, as I explore ways to increase our self esteem, through dialogue, self love, and artistic expression.   

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