Take a breath and wait 5 minutes...

"Take a breath and wait 5 more minutes."

That's how I've gotten through many things in my life that seemed impossible. The morning I was supposed to take my flight to start classes at UCLA, I was so scared of failure and living in a big city (a huge change for a Missouri farm girl) that I was going to tell my dad that I didn't want to go. My suitcase was by the front door and I told myself, "just wait 5 minutes and then tell him you don't want to go." I kept telling myself that until I got on the plane. Ultimately, going to UCLA was an amazing experience that helped me grow in a lot of ways. I graduated summa cum laude (and I also realized people get annoyed when I introduced myself as "My name is Melissa; I grew up on a farm!"). Haha, to wake up to a bellowing cow...I miss those days.

There are other memories that pop up - moments when I put my feelings aside in order to just keep moving (paddling in scary conditions in a SoCal with no chase boats around, driving my niece out of Redding during the Carr Fire, teaching Honors Chemistry). Sometimes in life, we have to just keep taking those steps to be brave, even when it isn't something that we feel is big. But anytime we stretch our courage muscles, it IS big. We all face fear, challenges, and heartbreak...how we journey through it is a victory.