Being Courageous

Thursday, 28 December 2006

I came across this comment on the "Living with ALS" chat room today, and it is a great follow-up to the previous post on "The Perils of Mute Communication" written by Dov Wisebrod. As we continue our daily routine with Dad and focus on making him comfortable, it is important to remember how courageous Dad has been with this horrible disease over the past two years.

"ALS has taught me patience in all things - with other people, with
myself, and especially with my body. I've become accustomed to my
mind racing ahead of my body's ability to catch up and put in effect
all my ideas. I've learned to think, reason, and plan before
beginning a project like writing or programming. So I knew what I
wanted to write before I started.

I initially wrote an article that was about half the final size, and
it was rejected by one paper. (Boo-hoo, but I've had legal articles
accepted and rejected by law journals, and I was executive editor of
a law journal, so I'm used to rejecting and rejection.) So I beefed
up the article, constantly edited it, and when I was finally
satisfied, I submitted it to a better newspaper. They did a wonderful
job, giving it a full page on the front of a section with an
excellent illustration.

I don't feel courageous, though I've been called that by almost
everyone who wrote to me after the article was published. In fact, I
think anyone who accepts a diagnosis of ALS is courageous. It is
irrelevant to me whether the person chooses to live with the aid of
machines and medications, as I have, or not. The very act of
consciously choosing to live or die (whether assisted or unassisted)
is courageous in and of itself. After making that inherently
courageous decision, all that follows isn't courageous at all. It is
simply the consequence of that single courageous choice.

That is my opinion."

Dov Wisebrod
wisebrod.com