Courage

What Is Courage
Brenda Wiseman, R.N.,C.

Have you ever wondered where people get the COURAGE to deal with life's adversities? Reflecting on your own life, perhaps you have questioned the source of your personal courage. Talking with people in the clinic each day, I am struck by the incredible courage of our patients and their families.

In exploring the definition of courage, I was reminded that courage is NOT the absence of fear. It is a quality of mind which meets danger or opposition with valor, firmness and bravery. This definition still seems inadequate to describe the reflection in the eyes of people who frequent this clinic. Upon further exploration, I learned that the French root word of courage is coeur which means heart. The heart as the sustaining source of courage... Courage that is "rooted" in love. This definition brought clarity to the reflection seen in the eyes of those living with cancer and their loved ones.

In 1534 Martin Luther was quoted (in preface to his translation of the Psalms) "The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven." Cancer is certainly one of the stormiest seas of life, and it calls for courage in both aspects of its definition: firmness in the presence of danger and heart in the form of love.

As I look at cancer patients and their loved ones, I see that love seems to be the essential ingredient to propel us in life and the fundamental source of courage.