Читать книгу Above and Beyond - J.S. Dorian - Страница 14

“We cannot conquer fate and necessity, yet we can yield to them in such a manner as to be greater than if we could.”

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

On the one hand, we are urged to fight disease with every fiber in our being and with every resource at our command. On the other hand, we are admonished to surrender and seek acceptance. Both approaches make sense, but how can we fight and give up at the same time? The last thing we need these days is another mixed message; we’ve had all the bewilderments and paradoxes we can handle.

Actually, there is nothing at all contradictory or paradoxical about “fighting” an illness while “surrendering” to it. Fighting an illness isn’t like fighting a bear. The object is not to wrestle it to the ground and in the process avoid getting mauled. Rather, the goal in fighting illness is to turn it away or at least stop it in its tracks. “Fighting,” in this sense, means garnering our resources, refusing to become a hapless victim, and refusing to give up hope.

“Surrender,” in turn, has less to do with giving up than it does with accepting the illness; that is, learning to live fully and gracefully, without self-pity, in the new framework of our life.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

When I surrender, I do not give up determination, courage, or hope. I give up only fear and self-pity.