Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas

by Alexi Pappas

Knowing that I literally carry my mother with me made me feel like I was infected with some dark thing. But then I came to feel comforted by this inheritance. What about those times in summer camp when everyone got sick but me? Or the intimate moments when boys tell me I smell nice even when I’m sweaty? It must have been her microbes. I look at how far I’ve come and I see that my mother’s microbes have been my invisible teammates. I understand that even if her illness prevented her from raising me, part of her has been with me all along.

We should never want to become anyone else, because the greatest fulfillment we can ever get out of life is by becoming the best possible version of ourselves.

Asking for help is a superpower anyone can have but only some people use. It is brave to ask for help. Asking for help is the first step toward finding a mentor. Mentors can help us change our lives if we let them.

Nerves are cousin to excitement, and excitement is cousin to gratitude. Pay attention to your nerves: If you feel nervous, it’s a sign that a Very Big Thing is unfolding. Be nervous for how good that thing can be.

He has always been super calm and there to listen to me, rock-solid and attentive, but never stepping in to save me. He lets me fail and succeed on my own. My dad understands that it is natural and normal for children to struggle and that it’s not always productive for a parent to intervene.

I would later learn that it’s actually quite hard to tell yourself to change your feelings, even when you’re completely healthy. You have to change your actions, then your thoughts and feelings will follow.

Racing is about understanding that pain is a sensation but not necessarily a threat, and if you continue to put one foot in front of the other you will break through your rough patch.

If a bad thing happens, you can see it as a harbinger of more bad things to come or as an opportunity for growth. Both mindsets represent ways to survive in the world, but one makes you a victim while the other empowers you. It’s easier to be a victim; it takes bravery to claim your power.

wish I could have taught my mom what Jerry taught me: to just let it out and be unselfconsciously honest. The only way to not be forever sad is to admit that we are, for the moment, sad.

You have to take care of yourself first. You are your own most precious resource. Everything you are in this world hinges on you facing yourself before you face the world.