Courage

The word courage is defined in Webster’s dictionary as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” We often hear the word used in conjunction with athletics or politics, as when a great athlete showed great courage by playing through injury to win the big game, or such and such politician displayed courage by standing up to his party by taking a politically unpopular position on the issues.

I would argue, however, that this isn’t the real essence of courage. What takes real courage is to battle cancer, to endure the often harsh treatments that make you sick, leave you without hair, and make you feel lousy. It takes real courage to fight through the adversity of cancer and continue to live. My friend Kate (pictured above) has had stage four pancreatic cancer for over one year and I’ve never seen anyone in my entire life display more courage than her. She’s undergone countless tests, procedures, blood transfusions, chemo treatments, even a hospitalization. Yet through it all, she continues to work. She continues to see her friends. She continues to write an amazing blog about her battle with cancer and inspires others who are going through their own battles against this dreaded disease. You want real courage? Last year, I was bed ridden after my ankle surgery, and Kate came to visit me! She visited while she was going through chemo. That is the true definition of courage and of a great friend. Yes, the athletic feats by our sports heroes are amazing. Yes, the political stands taken by our politicians are important, but in real life, in the real world, it is Kate and the people like her who display the true meaning of courage everyday.