I'm pretty sure we're all inspired by stories of women achieving amazing success despite overwhelming odds. Sometimes those stories make me depressed, though. I think, “She overcame such huge odds. There's no way I could even come close to doing what she did.”

And yet…

We do amazing things everyday. Sometimes I consider getting up and making it to work an achievement. You become used to your routine and your struggles, and it doesn't occur to you to celebrate that you sent your kids off to school fed and clothed. You don't celebrate resolving a work situation with integrity. You don't celebrate a thousand “little things” you do every day.

If you still don't think you are strong, determined or persistent, remind yourself that what's easy for you isn't easy for someone else. My mom often mentions how impressed she was that I took a job in another city where I didn't know anyone. I never thought of it as being a big deal. I had to do it so I did.

I'm not saying all this to discount a big show of strength at a crucial moment. But I'm confident that before Elizabeth Warren persisted in the Senate, she succeeded in lots of small ways every day. Strength is made up of small acts of persistence.

Celebrate your strength. Celebrate the strength of those you encounter every day. It's not a big deal. But it really is.