Courage of the heart is very rare. The stone has a power, when it's there.
- Nicodemus, The Secret of NIMH.

I have lived the last ten years of my life in what can only be referred to as a coma. Oh, I was awake, and aware of the things I was doing, yet somehow at the same time powerless to do anything about them.

So I'm awake now, so now what? That's the question. How does a man reclaim the life he should have led? How does he claw his way back onto the path that he fell from, and can he even do so? Or even better yet...should he?

My life is plagued by fear. Of success. Of failure. Of happiness. Of loneliness. I have begun to conquer some of these, with the help of a few beloved souls. Some still remain.

But I have to try. I have to somehow rise above all this. Succeed or fail, it's the effort that will define whether courage exists or not within me still.

I have a hematite ring. Supposedly it helps to heal wounds, and aid wayward warriors, in certain beliefs. Maybe it doesn't matter what other people believe, and it's what I believe that matters.

More on this later.