Let’s be honest: nothing makes death easier for the ones left behind. Yet what breaks your heart connects you to others in new ways. Through that common thread, you grow the courage to bloom from your wounds. To grow, to give, to live again. And here’s what that might mean for you…

Grief hurts. It can feel like wreckage, like being washed away and remade in a new way. We can label grief as bad, badgering it into being innately wrong when, in fact, it’s proof that we’ve lived and loved. Really lived, really loved. This poem embraces grief as part of LIFE, not just death, and essential to healing.

“I am stronger than I feel.” That’s the mantra that inspired these affirmations for mental strength. Use them daily to keep your head up, heart open, and hope alive. I hope you know: you’re capable and brave and significant, even when it feels like you’re not. Actually, that’s exactly when you’re the bravest of all.

In a nutshell, you deserve to hear this… you NEED to know it: You’re amazing because of how you carry on. It’s true. So let me tell you the best way I know how. In words. (Hint: there’s a free “something” for you in this post…)

“If you wake up breathing, it’s a good day!” Said the guy who was sick his entire life. That guy (my dad) is my hero and today would have been his 62nd birthday. Read this hero poem to celebrate that brave person you’ve been blessed to cross paths with, the one who made your world a little bit brighter.

Courage, to me, means that you show up anyway. Regardless of doubt, insecurity, and fear. No matter how many times you’ve been forced into despair before. This is a courage poem to honor that struggle and the strength still left, even when you’re not sure how you can keep going.

Sharing your story is heart work. It's not easy work, but it might be the most important thing you’ll ever do. Read these quotes to remember how much your story matters. You're here to feel it, live it, tell it. And whatever you share might be what helps someone else heal, too.

You don't need to be grateful for everything to be grateful for the path you’ve chosen in the wake of everything. Heartbreak may or may not have led you to more desirable places, but how you choose to walk now also matters — and it’s okay to be grateful for that.

The more we tell the truth about what we’ve gone through and are still going through, the easier it is to trust ourselves. I think that’s because sharing is daring to discover who we can be beyond any one story. Bearing your heart and soul: that’s one of the bravest ways to heal and grow.

This is what courage means: doing the things that scare you because you know it’s through those things that you’re going to shift the world. Here are some notes to remind you that you were born to reach out and touch the world with your truth.