Peggy’s prompt—they hold courage—25 minutes—020111

Peggy’s prompt—they hold courage—25 minutes—020111




People say to me, you have such courage. What do they mean? Do they mean I go about my life like they do, even though they don’t have metastatic breast cancer (MBC, to those who have it)? Apparently, they hold courage as something to be admired, sought after, treasured. But I don’t know exactly what courage is, or where it comes from. It seems to me that courage is something like the Buddhist “acceptance.” Like living in the present as it is and not in the past or in the future. I don’t really know what I’m talking about here. I just know that the times when I have felt courageous were the times when I “did the right thing” and the times I’ve felt cowardly are the times when I felt I didn’t do the right thing. And what is the “right thing?” I guess it’s the same as what other people would consider right. But yet, not always. In the ‘60’s, many people thought I was wrong to be a part of civil rights activities, but I though I was right. Now most people probably agree with me. I think it’s right not to give up when life hands you a harsh blow—of which I have had several. So I try to do what I think is right. And maybe that is courage. I’m not sure everyone would agree with me. Some would think it’s doing something extraordinary, like rushing into a burning building to save a child. But to me, that’s more than courageous, that’s heroic. I think courage is doing the everyday things, even though it may be hard. So, by my definition, I’m often, but not always courageous. And that’s about as good as I’m going to get.