Part IV. Fighting
We must fight every battle lest it turn the tide against us.
For individuals and for nations, there is no refuge from war. Sooner or later we will come under attack. So, we must anticipate our enemies, prepare our defenses, strengthen our resolve. We must know that someday our greatest effort will be required or we will be crushed. This is how we create our peace.
––John Roberts
The military way is a long, hard road, and it makes extraordinary requirements of every individual. In war, particularly, it puts stresses upon men such as they have not known elsewhere, and the temptation to “get out from under” would be irresistible if their spirits had not been tempered to the ordeal.
––Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall
The Armed Forces Officer, 1950
Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.
––Chinese Proverb
The love of life is necessary to the vigorous prosecution of any undertaking.
––Samuel Johnson
Fight till the last gasp.
––William Shakespeare, King Henry the Sixth, 1588-1591
Bite on the bullet, old man, and don’t let them think you’re afraid.
Rudyard Kipling
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasm, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
––Theodore Roosevelt, Speech at the Sorbonne, 1910
Compromise is not a strategy for fighting cancer. To fight for something, as opposed to the usual half-hearted accommodations and appeasements of getting along in life, requires a certain aggressive state of mind involving some risk and strenuous mental effort. It may be a pugnacious nature from birth, or a necessity for survival, or, more likely, a gradual building of courage, skill, and belief in a cause, selfish or otherwise. For the majority of people, who have led comfortable lives, to fight means, to one degree or another, rebuilding ourselves or helping a loved one do it. The moment we hear about that cancer, we must get a grip on that concept and get started with determination and enthusiasm. It becomes much easier because, in contrast to some of life’s challenges, we are instantly a member of a partially-competent team that will work together to get the job done.
Yet, most people nearing the end of life are too tired and too hurt to take up mental mountain climbing and to refuse to quit until they succeed. Somehow, it has to begin with the first step, each of us finding the best way to fight with what we have. It is best to assume that there is more fight in us than we first realize. We won’t find out unless we push ourselves every day in every way we can. It ends with the last step, but all effort must be made to take just one more, and then another, earning time for a recovery and possible victory. The day we feel like giving up is not necessarily the day we will die. There will be good days and bad days, and we need the fighting spirit to carry us through the down periods. We must decide that more living is worth more suffering. Medicine, and our own spirit, have ways of relieving that suffering. The turn to victory often occurs at the worst of times, when the enemy has made its last great effort.
In order to fuel our fight we need strong motivation, which is a steady belief that another day, despite the seemingly hopeless outlook, is worth the effort. Early on, we can practice this so that it is strong at the end when needed. In all of this, however, we must also accept that there may finally come a day when we deeply and irreversibly recognize that the time has come to accept that our fight is finished; we then save some time to cease our struggle and set forever the peace of mind with which we expect to leave our cherished loved ones and mortal existence. Our god of war will accept that final change of heart.
