The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

Winning takes courage, but losing and continuing takes more. Defeat strips away the confidence, momentum and approval that usually carry people forward, and what remains is whether you can still believe your effort is worth making. Holding on to heart in that moment is rarely dramatic. Often it is just getting up the next morning.

If you are in a stretch of defeat, you may not feel brave, and you do not need to. Choose one small thing to keep doing, even at reduced strength. Let that be enough for now; heart has a way of coming back slowly.