To celebrate National Brave Day, a day that honors women who lift each other up, I dedicate this post to every girl and woman who has ever walked this earth. Your bravery and strength, faced with life’s obstacles give us the courage that anything is possible.

Being brave means facing challenges with courage and trusting that all will be well.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou,American poet, actress, singer, civil rights activist

We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this think must be attained. — Marie Curie, Polish-born French physicist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911

I believe that a girl should not do what she thinks she should do, but should find out through experience what she wants to do. — Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer and author

The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. — Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani education activist, author, Noble Peace Prize 2014

Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again. — Anne Frank, German-Dutch diarist, author of The Secret Annex

Each person must live their life as a model for others. — Rosa Parks, African-American civil rights activist, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and The Congressional Gold Medal

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. — Mother Teresa, Roman Catholic nun, missionary, humanitarian

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’! — Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-born British actress, dancer, humanitarian

Spend time each day to lift up the girls and women in your life. Honor your fellow sisters, listen with compassion, inspire them to act on their dreams, cultivate unity, and, most of all, hold a safe space to vocalize desires and dreams, cares and concerns, courage and faith. Small acts of kindness can truly change someone’s day if not their life.

Encourage. Empower. Embrace.

When we work together, anything is possible!

Photo by Rowan Chestnut on Unsplash