Dear readers,

For our special new series, “The Healing Power Within,” we invited readers to share their personal stories and reflections on our second featured virtue: courage. From acts of quiet resilience to extraordinary displays of bravery, the stories and insights we received were both moving and inspiring. Below are some of the standout submissions.

“The Healing Power Within” is a six-week series exploring timeless virtues and the surprising science behind how they improve our health, strengthen our relationships, and change our lives.

The following readers’ stories have been edited for style and clarity.

The Courage to Be Seen

I am an artist and seen by many as outgoing and slightly quirky, but productive. Deep within, I am very self critical, particularly about my paintings.

I was asked by a provincial art association to come to one of their meetings and present the history of my work to them. I am old now, and find it difficult to actually set up my equipment and paint. I’m losing my sight slowly, and I find it difficult to stand and paint in the way that I used to do quite comfortably.

Still, I reluctantly agreed to give the talk, feeling both honoured and terrified. My anxiety level was extremely high, but I made an effort and got organized. I was afraid I would forget, that I would stumble, and that I would have difficulty finding my words.

But I carried on and arranged my paintings and slides in order to help guide me  through the years. The time came to present. By this time, I had recklessly determined that I didn’t care anymore and I would just go ahead and make a fool of myself. So I opened my mouth and let everything out, including my anxieties, and the challenges that I still faced in the world of art.

To my surprise, people came up to me after, some with tears in their eyes, and said it was the most moving presentation they had experienced in this art group, and they were particularly affected by my vulnerability.

What I learned was that I am actually likeable, that my acceptability is not necessarily based on my production, and that my foibles and insecurities are common amongst my peers and cohort.

To this day, when I am being critical of myself, I remind myself of the feedback I received that day, and it helps me carry on with a quiet determination and gratitude for the confidence I gained.

Life Beyond Fear

“Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone” has been my guiding slogan for as long as I can remember. I haven’t always expressed it that way, but I’ve practised it. 

People practise courageous acts all the time. Seemingly insignificant things like getting out of bed can be monstrous, fearful events if you’re subject to panic attacks or afflicted with agoraphobia.

Life-changing acts like proposing marriage can cause a person to seize up in such a tight knot that they can’t even speak. Attending job interviews, asking someone for a date, buying a house, getting a driver’s licence—all ordinary things, but things that take courage, nonetheless.

I recall my first experience standing in front of my peers—school mates in Grade 10—and delivering a lesson. I was so overcome with anxiety that I completely flubbed the project. I could not imagine that anyone understood a word I said, let alone got the gist of the lesson.

Imagine my shock when I received a grade of “B” for the exercise. Apparently, it came off fairly well despite the fact that I couldn’t remember it. The next time I was assigned to deliver a lesson, it was just as challenging. However, I had learned from my previous experience, was better prepared, and delivered a lesson that I not only remembered but was also proud of.

From that first, fearful presentation, my career developed into one that frequently, almost routinely, called on me to present to my peers.

I finished my career as the leader of a union with over 3,000 members. I was responsible to ensure that they were respected by their employer, that they could own a home, raise a family and educate their children, that their workplace was safe and secure, and that their wages kept up with the economy of the day. Every three years, I had to stand for re-election—essentially asking the membership to renew my mandate for another term.

In the course of doing all that, I cannot even estimate the number of times I’ve been called upon to deliver a speech, whether across the table in negotiations or delivering a keynote address to a group of 1,000 or more. One thing I can promise you, though, is that the butterflies never go away. I just have to prepare carefully, suck up a little courage, and go for it.

It has been a wonderful career and a meaningful life and it all began in that classroom so long ago when I was challenged to deliver. Truly, life DOES begin at the edge of your comfort zone.

Choosing the Path Less Travelled

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999. The urologist gave me a few recommendations for treating it. The first was the “gold standard” treatment for prostate cancer: a radical prostatectomy. Next was external beam radiation, followed by brachytherapy—a procedure in which radioactive seeds are placed in the prostate. Lastly, there was “watchful waiting.”

I went to the main library in Winnipeg and checked out 12 books on prostate cancer. I skimmed through them and realized I didn’t want to deal with the side effects of any of the treatments—except for watchful waiting. The risks of incontinence and impotence were particularly concerning. I didn’t want to have to wear pads or diapers, and my wife and I were still sexually active. I was 60 years old, and she was 54.

I returned those books and withdrew another 12 books that were about alternative therapies. I scanned through these books and found what I liked.  

So I then went to a naturopath who put me on a special diet that eliminated beef, dairy products, and sugar. He advised against beef because cattle are often given injections to protect them from various diseases, which he said could be harmful to humans. He also recommended that I walk for at least 45 minutes a day.

He also put me on an intravenous plan whereby I had to have a solution of various vitamins injected into my arm. I had that done 70 times at around two hours per treatment.  

When I began my therapy my Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) was 6.3, after a month or so of treatment by the naturopath, it dropped down to 3.4. Then, about five months later, my PSA rose to 6.3. Obviously, I panicked. Over the years my PSA rose very slowly. It is now around 12.0. 

I have given numerous presentations to the prostate cancer support group in Winnipeg. The members still cannot believe that I didn’t get any treatment by a urologist.  

I went to another urologist after the first one yelled at me for being so stupid. The new urologist told me that he didn’t believe in what I was doing, however he encouraged me to keep on doing it because it worked.

I am currently 87 years old and my wife is 81 years old.

Life-Saving Courage

In recognition of their heroic actions, paramedics Donald (Don) Sharpe and Benjamin Rempel were awarded the prestigious Calgary Police Service Chief’s Award for Valour and Bravery.

Here is the story of what happened:

In 2017, Don Sharpe and Benjamin Rempel responded to an emergency call at a commercial business in south Calgary. What was expected to be a standard medical or dispatch call instantly transformed into a chaotic and incredibly dangerous scene.  

Upon arrival, they discovered a violent man in the middle of a brutal, unprovoked physical assault on an innocent woman.  

Faced with an active, violent attack, emergency protocols typically dictate that paramedics “stage”—meaning they back off, park at a safe distance, and wait for police backup to secure the scene before making contact.

However, seeing that the woman’s life was in immediate, critical danger, Sharpe and Rempel made a split-second decision to bypass protocol. Knowing they had no protective body armour or weapons, they chose to physically intervene.

The two paramedics rushed the attacker, managed to pull him away from the victim, and physically restrained him. They held the combative suspect down, protecting the woman and keeping the situation contained until Calgary Police Service officers could arrive to take over and make the arrest.  

The Calgary Police Service later made it clear that the paramedics’ rapid, selfless intervention directly prevented the woman from suffering catastrophic injuries or even death.

While Don Sharpe spent much of his notable 41-year career in Alberta as a passionate, vocal whistleblower pushing for better systemic safety and operational reforms for paramedics, this specific night cemented his and Rempel’s legacy as literal life-savers on the front lines.

A Quiet Strength

At 29 years of age, and only six months into my marriage, I was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. Two of my sisters were found to be perfect bone marrow matches, so I had to choose between them. It was not an easy decision, especially since they both wanted to be the donor.

After extensive chemotherapy delivered intravenously, I received the bone marrow, then the hard part began. With blood counts of next to zero, we waited anxiously for any  signs of hope. Finally, about 8 days later, there was an upward blip in my blood counts.   

Through it all, I had a poster on the wall that said: “Courage isn’t having the strength to go on; It’s going on when you don’t have the strength.”

By the grace of God, I was finally released from quarantine, and then from the hospital itself.   It was a long, arduous journey, but 37 years later, I am SO very grateful.   

Brave Boundaries

Courage, for me, has meant learning to live and love on my own terms. 

It took courage to face the drinking, the violations, and the silence of my childhood; not to reopen old wounds, but to finally name what happened. It took even more courage to forgive the people who knew and did nothing, to release the hurt and anger without pretending the harm was smaller than it was to preserve familial harmony.

Forgiveness didn’t mean reunion. It meant clarity. It meant understanding that “no contact” was the boundary that protected my well‑being, not a punishment. I can wish people well, even love them, from a distance. I can hold no malice and still choose my own peace.

If courage has a shape in my life, it is this: telling the truth, setting the boundary, and walking forward with an open heart.

Practising Courage

In my late 30s, I’m finally giving myself the childhood I never got to have.

The brave thing wasn’t parkour after a nearly athletic-free childhood, or publishing an IP article with a university. The brave thing was choosing myself after years of living inside other people’s fears.

I built and dissolved a business while caring for my mother through her cancer. I got back on the archery range and found joy, community, and belonging again. I stepped onto a comedy stage for the first time and uploaded a Youtube video of it anyway.

The biggest act of courage wasn’t doing these things—it was believing I was allowed to.

After years of living inside fear that wasn’t mine, I’m learning something beautiful: Freedom is a skill. And every brave choice is helping me build it.