"Courage means to keep working a relationship, to continue seeking solutions to difficult problems, and to stay focused during stressful periods"
About this Quote
Waitley’s move here is to hijack a word we usually reserve for battlefield heroics and reassign it to the slow, unglamorous grind of emotional maintenance. “Courage” isn’t framed as a single, cinematic act; it’s a repeatable discipline. The verbs do the heavy lifting: keep working, continue seeking, stay focused. This is bravery as stamina, not swagger.
The intent is motivational, but it’s also corrective. By naming relationship labor and problem-solving as courageous, Waitley is pushing back against a cultural reflex that treats persistence as either automatic (“if it’s right, it’s easy”) or humiliating (“if you’re trying, you’re losing”). His definition dignifies effort, especially the kind that’s invisible from the outside: returning to the same conversation, tolerating ambiguity, choosing repair over the dopamine hit of righteous exit.
The subtext is pragmatic and slightly managerial. Relationships become projects; stress becomes a test of attention; solutions are something you “seek,” like you’re troubleshooting a system. That’s classic self-help-era language, where emotions are real but ideally handled with process. It also smuggles in accountability: if courage is staying engaged, then retreat, distraction, and emotional impulsivity start to look less like personality quirks and more like avoidant choices.
Context matters: Waitley’s career sits in the late-20th-century motivational tradition, aimed at professionals and strivers trained to equate character with performance under pressure. He’s extending that ethic into intimacy, suggesting the same grit you bring to work is what love actually demands.
The intent is motivational, but it’s also corrective. By naming relationship labor and problem-solving as courageous, Waitley is pushing back against a cultural reflex that treats persistence as either automatic (“if it’s right, it’s easy”) or humiliating (“if you’re trying, you’re losing”). His definition dignifies effort, especially the kind that’s invisible from the outside: returning to the same conversation, tolerating ambiguity, choosing repair over the dopamine hit of righteous exit.
The subtext is pragmatic and slightly managerial. Relationships become projects; stress becomes a test of attention; solutions are something you “seek,” like you’re troubleshooting a system. That’s classic self-help-era language, where emotions are real but ideally handled with process. It also smuggles in accountability: if courage is staying engaged, then retreat, distraction, and emotional impulsivity start to look less like personality quirks and more like avoidant choices.
Context matters: Waitley’s career sits in the late-20th-century motivational tradition, aimed at professionals and strivers trained to equate character with performance under pressure. He’s extending that ethic into intimacy, suggesting the same grit you bring to work is what love actually demands.
Quote Details
| Topic | Relationship |
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