Courage: the strength flowing from a higher power channelled from deep within to face external adversity, challenge, or uncertainty.
Recovery has required me to change by facing not evading difficulty, pain, or discomfort and uncovering, discovering, and discarding all beliefs, attitudes, thinking, and behaviour that are not for the good of all.
It has required the abandonment of perfectionism—striving to acquire qualities serving base or selfish interests—in exchange for daily, concerted character-building: the relinquishment of vanity (in all its senses), self-centredness, and comfort- and thrill-seeking in favour of the virtues of patience, tolerance, kindness and love.
Everything worthwhile in my life has been achieved at the cost of self, and the price had always been well worth paying.