No situation is exactly like any other situation. Every situation is new. Therefore, even if you haven’t acted with courage in the past, you presently have the capacity to make new choices when new situations arise.

We each change all the time, either slightly or considerably. The new situations that arise are always more advanced than at any time in the past when you were faced with a similar situation. Let this thought strengthen you in your ability to have more courage than you ever did before.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book, “Courage”