Courage

Recently, my 7-year-old grandson performed an act that amazed me. He’s in first grade and his class was outside playing at recess. He noticed some police vehicles started to gather at a location a block and a half away from the school, so he immediately brought it to the attention of one of the paras who watching them at recess. Once my grandson had pointed this out, the para immediately blew the whistle for all children to quickly return to the school, and the school was quickly placed on lock-down.

The event triggering police action was shots fired outside a medical clinic not far from the school. In fact, the clinic was close enough that stray bullets could have reached the playground on which the children were playing. My grandson’s awareness was commendable, but his bravery to immediately point it out to someone of authority was astonishing. At that age, the first thing I would have done was tell my friends and we all would have stood there and watched together. The school is presenting my grandson with a Valor Award and he has been named Student of the Month for his bravery and courage.

Courage is an interesting trait. To some, it seems to come naturally. To others, not so much. But everyone needs to display courage at different points in their life.

For those of us with Myasthenia Gravis, courage is a necessity. Giving into MG means allowing our disease to win and take over our bodies, our minds, and our souls. It’s not always easy, but we can’t let MG win and we can’t give up the fight to lead a productive life.

There are days when I don’t feel like getting out of bed, but that’s exactly what this disease wants. It wants to convince me that it has taken over my life, that any thought of fighting is hopeless, that the outlook is grim. If we allow that to happen, MG will take over. It will win.

Here’s the reality. Although life is more difficult with Myasthenia Gravis, we don’t have to let it win. We can draw from the courage that lies within us and put up a good fight. We may not be able to do much about the physical effects MG has on the body, but we are fully in control of how MG affects our minds.

When MG challenges our minds and gets us depressed, our attitude is our best weapon. If we can remain positive in spite of what’s going on, depression has a very difficult time taking hold. We’re not helpless when it comes to attitude. We can remain positive. We can put on a happy face, even when we don’t feel like being happy. We can look at all that God has provided, and all life has to offer. We can choose to be brave. We can choose to be courageous.

It doesn’t stop there. Learning to be courageous and maintaining a positive attitude can help us with all the other challenges we’re experiencing as well.

I’ve been through some health scares in my life beyond just MG. Some even just recently. I can honestly say that my reaction to those scares is much better today than they were before I was diagnosed with MG. You see, MG has taught me to fight back. MG has taught me the benefit of staying positive. MG has taught me to be courageous. Being positive and courageous are now my go-to responses. I don’t even have to think about it. I can face these challenges with the skills I’ve learned and be courageous in my response.

When my grandson immediately hunted down a para and informed them of the emergency, he did so because his parents have taught him to be courageous. They’ve taught him to remain calm and do the right thing. He’s been taught and conditioned to be brave, and bravery now comes naturally for him.

I want bravery to come naturally for you, as well. Practice being courageous. Always maintain that positive attitude. Watch how it affects your life. Suddenly challenges don’t appear so steep.

And when the challenges seem more than you can handle, turn to God. He always has your hand. It’s easy to forget and feel like we’re facing challenges on our own, but we’re not. He has promised to always be with us. We just need to turn to Him and trust that He will get us through. 

Remember the saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”? I think that’s true, but I also like to add “And when the going gets too tough, nothing is too challenging for my God.”