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The meaning of courage

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-19 08:47

"You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity." - Greek philosopher Epicurus

Over the past week or so, I have seen and read about enough acts of courage on the sporting stage to last me a lifetime.

What I am writing about is not the raw courage of athletes battling it out in gladiatorial fashion in front of baying crowds on a gridiron field or tennis court or boxing ring.

Nor the courage that allows those special few among us to fight through blood, sweat and tears to reach that greater glory we mere mortals can only dream of.

I am talking about a more subtle courage, where simply appearing at an event is a victory of colossal scope. Where the mind and heart push the body past physical limitations, mental anguish and societal barriers to compete on the world stage.

More often than not, it's not for medal glory, it's just simply to be there and say, "Hey world, here I am."

I watch the athletes at the Guangzhou Asian Para Games and have to ask myself could I ever do what they do. Could I ever be born into a dark world or have my life altered midstream and not only survive it, but stride beyond that obstacle?

I would love to put a tick in the "yes" box, but I am not so sure. I know I can, or could, face a bouncer in cricket or a shirt-front in Aussie Rules, but they are just part and parcel of the games and don't take great mental strength or painstaking work to face.

Where do the blind and limb-damaged athletes train and how do they get there?

What keeps them going when there will never be the same accolades for them as there are for the Olympians of sport?

I figure behind their courage and perseverance is a different kind of strength; one forged from the unconditional love of a parent for a child.

When my little boy sneezes I fly into a blind panic and tell his mother to rush him to the nearest clinic. I could not imagine how I would be if he was born without sight or a limb, or suffered a life-altering accident.

Then again, maybe I could because he's my son. And if he ever sunk into that dark place of depression and self-pity, I think I would tell him all about the courageous people in Guangzhou I saw and read about.

Tym Glaser is a sports copy editor who wishes he could run a sub-13 second 100m. He can be contacted at tymglaser@hotmail.com.