If you weren't courageous - if you couldn't fight the fight, take the heat, and keep your chin up, you risked being called a coward.
At first Eva welcomed his optimistic approach to fighting the disease. But as time passed and the disease progressed, Eva became increasingly upset. Finally she spoke up, beginning with those words that men dread hearing, "We need to talk."
Eva took a deep breath. Her voice was shaky. "Bill, I need you to accept that I'm dying. When you keep telling me to fight the illness, I feel worse, not better. You make me feel as if I'm a failure. Of course I want to live, but I know now that this disease is taking its course no matter what I do."
For the first time in his life, Bill needed to get in touch with a different kind of courage. He had to do something far different than fighting every inch of the way. He had to find the courage within to let go of the desired outcome and instead accept what was. He could hope that Eva would beat the disease, but he couldn't make it happen - no matter how hard he tried. And neither could she. "Giving 110 percent" simply didn't apply in this situation.
How hard it is for those of us who are accustomed to overcoming every problem by sheer force of will to back off, tolerate uncomfortable emotions, and accept what we don't want to accept. How hard it is for those of us who are used to taking strenuous action to cultivate the quiet art of internal strength? To be, not to do; to listen, not to fight; to let go, not to hold on.
