I am proud to be recycler, albeit a moderate one. I put plastic and paper in the bin that gets picked up at the end of my driveway every other week. I take reusable bags to the grocery store (a trade-off for the low-mileage SUV I drive there and back). I love treasure-hunting at second hand stores and hope others will fall in love with my no longer needed donations.

This led me to ponder the idea of recycling courage, made more poignant while on my recent trip to England. I had the opportunity to have lunch with an extraordinary woman called Sally Becker (read more about her here.). She's known as the Angel of Mostar because of the number of children she helped evacuate during the Balkan War in the '90s. So admired for her humanitarian work under a hail of sniper fire, she was asked to be an Olympic Flag bearer at last month's opening ceremony. Way cool.

I had read her autobiography ahead of time. But meeting Sally in person, I realized how the benefits of her work continue to save people even now. During the war, she returned to combat zones repeatedly to bring out more children because she had made promises to do so. She says not keeping her promises was not something she could live with. Hmmm ...  she recycled her own courage.

We've all faced things that were very difficult or very frightening, but we did it anyway because we had to. The next time we need courage, if we say to ourselves, "Well I did that so I can surely do this," we are recycling our own courage. Furthermore, just as our dear Mother Earth benefits from recycling, others will benefit by recycling the courage they see us demonstrate and vice versa. It's a beautiful thing!

Be courageous,