Reasons to Stay Alive. Being brave



Stepping up.

Matt Haig, in his book ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’, writes about a situation when his partner is going to the hospital with her mother, leaving him at home to wait for someone to arrive. He is anxious about this and is suffering from separation anxiety. He argues about being left behind but there comes a vital moment when he realises that he must and will stay. I can identify with this feeling and on many occasions, there has come a precise time when the need to be brave is more powerful than the anxiety. I expect that many people suffering from anxiety have these moments and for me, unlike overt acts of bravery, many of these moments are lost and not recognised for what they are. ‘A bit brave.’ When every fibre of your body is telling you to run away, just standing your ground or even taking a step forward is an immense but unacknowledged act of defiance and bravery.


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