Courage looks different at 2 a.m. in a hospital than it does on a stage. Both are real.

The public version gets all the attention, because it has an audience and a clear moment. The other kind is a plastic chair at an hour when nothing is happening, staying awake, holding somebody’s hand, being there for the fourth night. Nobody applauds it and it asks more of a person than most things that do.

If you are in the quiet version right now, it counts, and you are allowed to be exhausted by it. Let somebody bring you food or take an hour of it. And if it is a friend’s family in that chair, a message that expects no reply is worth more than you think.