Telescope, Courage, and the Call to Become

 Affirmation: I embrace my journey with honesty and strength, knowing that transformation begins with a single brave choice. 

There’s a certain kind of person who stirs something deep in me — not because their life was smooth, but because it wasn’t. I’m most inspired by the ones who turned their lives around, who listened to that invisible tug inside whispering, “There’s more for you.” The ones who took their pain, their rejection, their early losses, and shaped something beautiful out of it.

That kind of courage is what I’m learning to embody.

And somehow, Telescope brought all of that into sharp focus for me.

Walking through the community, listening to stories, watching the youth step into leadership, I kept feeling this quiet truth: transformation is not abstract here. It’s lived. It’s practiced. It’s earned. This part of Telescope is a place where people have had every reason to give up, yet they choose to rise — again and again.

Then I met Mr. Mikey.

A man who once walked a very different path — a self-described “bad boy” — and somehow found the strength to turn his life around. Not just for himself, but for his entire community. He chose to become a guide, a protector, a source of belonging. Watching him speak, seeing the respect he commands, feeling the sincerity in his story… it moved something in me.

It reminded me of the writer who kept going after a hundred rejections.

The young person who lost their parents too early and still pressed forward.

The athlete who faced injury after injury and came back stronger each time.

Telescope is full of people like that — people who refuse to let their past define their future. People who answer the call to become more than their circumstances. People who turn their wounds into wisdom and their struggles into service.

Being there made me ask myself:

Am I brave enough to heed that call too?

I want to be.

And every day, I’m choosing to be.

Because if Telescope has taught me anything, it’s that courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it’s a quiet decision made in the middle of an ordinary day — a decision to rise, to try again, to give back, to become who you were meant to be.

And maybe that’s the real beauty of this place:

it doesn’t just show you what resilience looks like.

It invites you to practice it.

Peace and Blessings