For several years, I was a play therapist in a children’s hospital. I was especially touched by children who had cystic fibrosis. I saw a different form of courage in these children and heroism by their parents. Instead of an emergency, the circumstances were persistent. The challenge was there every day, every hour, and every minute until the death of the child at adolescence. (Cystic fibrosis is still a terminal illness, but patients can live into their thirties with modern medication and treatments.)

If the challenge in emergency courage is panic, what is the challenge for persistent courage?