Strength and Virtue

I've received many very kind comments lately. I haven't had the opportunity to respond individually and I wanted to just say thank you. Several of the comments speak of courage, strength, hope, and faith and it occurred to me that I read something at the end of last year that I added to the 'guideposts' of my life that I wanted to share.

Before quoting that piece, however, let me say that in addition to missing my work - I've missed the people I work with. This is relevant to those comments on courage, strength, hope, faith... because those people who I am fortunate enough to work with and around are my regular examples of this. After some unavoidable delays, tomorrow looks to be my day for going back to
work in a restricted capacity. It will be great to be there even if I can't get out in a patrol car.

Quick update on me. Over the last few days I've been steadily bouncing back from the "low" I was at on Friday. Monday and Tuesday my blood tests showed positive increases over the previous test and I have felt correspondingly better. On Sunday we went for an awesome hike in the Boulder foothills on what was a gorgeous day. Courtnie was beside herself because she lives to hike trails and, more importantly, climb rock formations. It always does my heart good to hear strangers say something to the effect of she is an amazing climber - particularly as she climbs right past them to a peak that is 100 feet off the ground. How awesome it is to watch children who have no sense that something should concern them. And how thankful I am that there are professional climbers because Courtnie will be shortly climbing beyond my limited abilities. Unfortunately our hike was not without injuries - Kimmie falling on a slick piece of trail and donating some skin from her hand and Courtnie discovering a cactus hidden in some grass. In spite of that, we had a few hours of that untradeable sort of time that my recovery caused us to have to delay and it was awesome!

The thing I said I wanted to share comes from the Appendix of the book On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. That Appendix A is entitled "Erasmus' Twenty-Two Principles on How to Be Strong While Remaining Virtuous in a Dangerous World," from the Enchridion Militis Christiani: A Guide for the Righteous Protector, by Erasmus, 1503, extracted by Sergeant Chris Pascoe, Michigan State Police.

First Rule
INCREASE YOUR FAITH.
Even if the entire world appears mad.

Second Rule
ACT UPON YOUR FAITH.
Even if you must undergo the loss of everything.

Third Rule
ANALYZE YOUR FEARS.
You will find that things are not as bad as they appear.

Fourth Rule
MAKE VIRTUE THE ONLY GOAL OF YOUR LIFE.
Dedicate all your enthusiasm, all your effort, your leisure as well as your business.

Fifth Rule
TURN AWAY FROM MATERIAL THINGS.
If you are greatly concerned with money you will be weak of spirit.

Sixth Rule
TRAIN YOUR MIND TO DISTINGUISH GOOD AND EVIL.
Let your rule of government be determined by the common good.

Seventh Rule
NEVER LET ANY SETBACK STOP YOU IN YOUR QUEST.
We are not perfect - this only means we should try harder.

Eighth Rule
IF YOU HAVE FREQUENT TEMPTATIONS, DO NOT WORRY.
Begin to worry when you do not have temptation, because that is a sure sign that you cannot distinguish good from evil.

Ninth Rule
ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR AN ATTACK.
Careful generals set guards even in times of peace.

Tenth Rule
SPIT, AS IT WERE, IN THE FACE OF DANGER.
Keep a stirring quotation with you for encouragement.

Eleventh Rule
THERE ARE TWO DANGERS: ONE IS GIVING UP, THE OTHER IS PRIDE.
After you have performed some worthy task, give all the credit to someone else.

Twelfth Rule
TURN YOUR WEAKNESS INTO VIRTUE.
If you are inclined to be selfish, make a deliberate effort to be giving.

Thirteenth Rule
TREAT EACH BATTLE AS THOUGH IT WERE YOUR LAST.
And you will finish, in the end, victorious!

Fourteenth Rule
DON'T ASSUME THAT DOING GOOD ALLOWS YOU TO KEEP A FEW VICES.
The enemy you ignore the most is the one who conquers you.

Fifteenth Rule
WEIGH YOUR ALTERNATIVES CAREFULLY.
The wrong way will often seem easier than the right way.

Sixteenth Rule
NEVER ADMIT DEFEAT EVEN IF YOU HAVE BEEN WOUNDED.
The good soldier's painful wounds spur him to gather his strength.

Seventeenth Rule
ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN OF ACTION.
So when the time comes for battle, you will know what to do.

Eighteenth Rule
CALM YOUR PASSIONS BY SEEING HOW LITTLE THERE IS TO GAIN.
We often worry and scheme about trifling matters of no real importance.

Nineteenth Rule
SPEAK WITH YOURSELF THIS WAY:
If I do what I am considering, would I want my family to know about it?

Twentieth Rule
VIRTUE HAS ITS OWN REWARD.
Once a person has it, they would not exchange it for anything.

Twenty-first Rule
LIFE CAN BE SAD, DIFFICULT, AND QUICK: MAKE IT COUNT FOR SOMETHING!
Since we do not know when death will come, act honorably everyday.

Twenty-second Rule
REPENT YOUR WRONGS.
Those who do not admit their faults have the most to fear.

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Footnote: I've removed the survey I had on the blog because I had nothing but responses that encouraged me to include information on any fundraising events intended to help me and my family. When I have information I will include the contact information for those who want to help. Related to this, I know there are many fellow MCLers now following this blog and I hope I do our common challenge a service. If you are aware of resources or have had success with any means of minimizing the impact our diagnosis has on us - please share. Yes, I want this selfishly for myself but I would also guess that more than just my own self could benefit by having those ideas gathered in 'comments' here or in some other place. And although financial burden is on my mind, I think any collection of information would be helpful to all. If it doesn't exist already in someone else's blog or website, I could make a sidebar on this blog listing 'Resources for MCLers' as it were which would be helpful to all. Just a thought from the peanut gallery.