Taking A Stand by John Hanley

What is it to 'take a stand?' A powerful example is TIME'S once named Woman of the Year, Corazon Aquino. Her life demonstrates what it is to take a stand and to take it against odds that would reduce the most adamant visionary to a pessimist.

At sea, to stand is to hold a course. Virtually all actions you make are so made to keep you on course. Faced with the unyielding drift of the ocean's tide, your survival depends upon your stand, your ability to stay on course within that drift.

In other life projects, the 'drift' represents the cultural climate in which we operate, the shared understandings and practices that form the background for our everyday lives. For each of us the character of the drift may differ depending on religion, race, gender, age, etc. But the nature of the drift is the same for all human beings; it is uncompromising and inescapable.

Taking a stand in this context involves identifying and holding to a course or path within life's 'drift.' There is no inherent significance to any one stand over another, in theory. There is no objective scale by which to measure or substantiate the importance of a stand. Given all the possibilities for your participation in life, taking a stand involves stating what matters to you and then living by your word. In a practical sense, this includes reflecting on your concerns, articulating what it is that gives your life meaning, and then pursuing that commitment passionately. Virtually all of your actions are then taken to keep you on that path or are taken out of your commitment to being on that path.

"I know my limitations," Cory Aquino said three months after the murder of her husband, Benigno Aquino, "and I don't like politics. I was only involved because of my husband" (TIME Magazine, January 5, 1987). Uncharacteristically, Aquino decided that however fantastic and even distasteful the challenge seemed, she would meet it. Out of her stand about her country, she proceeded to bring forth the passion and leadership to inspire the people of the Phillipines to change the direction of their nation.

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