extra courage.

start.
...hesitate.
start again.
then...stop.


i watched a young girl
do this precise
dance
while trying to cross the street
this morning.


cars passing her by the many
she struggled to know
when.
to make that move.
that step.


i wanted her to be careful.
the cars were moving too quickly
for neighborhood streets and
paying no mind
to a little girl 
in a purple hood.


you can do it,
i heard myself whisper inside
my thoughts.


those first steps often require
the most intention.
and courage.

directions were being hollered
from across the street.
"go, go, go!"
"no, no. wait wait!"
"come on!"


but still she hesitated.
something hesitated.

no doubt she could do it
on her own.
she looked more than capable with
a younger-brother-hand 
tightly
encased in her own.
no doubt she'd done it
countless
times before.


but sometimes the road.
the same as yesterday
looks different
today.
the thing you did yesterday
it feels unknown today.
different somehow.


another car.
"not yet!"
"wait wait!"
"no, no, not now."


and sometimes
even those trying to be helpful
are just words
floating
in the space around you.


the intention
and courage are inside.
you know they are.
but summoning them
in that moment
seem impossible.


there i was.
standing next to the
purple hood.


sometimes asking is the 
hardest part.


i put my hand out.
found her wide brown eyes
staring back at me.
"maybe we can go together."
i ask.


she breathed deep
and nodded up at me.


and together we went.
both
fully capable on our own.
but together nonetheless.


sometimes we need 
that extra
courage.
to do the very thing
right in front of
us.


today.
may that extra courage
find you.


mine did.


- n.