C<\/span>ourage. It\u2019s what it takes to meet life\u2019s challenges, large and small. A baby takes the courageous first step, a teenage boy gets up his nerve to ask a girl out for the first time, a young exec takes a deep breath and requests a raise. Arguably, all acts of courage.<\/p>\n But the real show of courage and strength of character is revealed when confronted with true life-altering experiences. Physical courage in the face of agonizing pain, moral courage to do what is ethically right without hesitation and the mental toughness to face debilitating disease are things that define who we are. Courageous people become our heroes. They are found every day and serve as important role models for all of us.<\/p>\n These people and their stories become especially poignant when the world steps up and takes notice.<\/p>\n Take the three young Americans, recently on holiday in France when, confronted by an armed terrorist, faced imminent death. Their heroic response captured the world\u2019s imagination and led to the inevitable question, \u201cWhat would I have done?”<\/p>\n Picture yourself at age ninety, admired by many, still healthy, still active and still looking forward to the next challenge when, suddenly, you are told your body is laced with cancer. How would you react? Like former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter?<\/p>\n Or Tom Brokaw. At age seventy-three, Brokaw, still healthy and active, was unexpectedly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Always pegged by friends as having a \u201clucky star,\u201d Brokaw says, \u201cturns out that star has a dimmer switch.\u201d How he faced a year of coming to grips with this is a fascinating read in his new book, A Lucky Life Interrupted<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a taste of their stories.<\/p>\n [awesome-gallery id=1935] (Left) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Photo:\u00a0Sara Saunders\/The Carter Center\u00a0(Middle) Tom Brokaw. Photo: Christopher Little – Corbis (Right) Ambassador Hartley and Three Amercian Train Heros. Photo:\u00a0US Embassy Paris\/Chantal Mistral-Bernard.<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n On August 21, 2015, Ayoub El-Khazzani wielding an AK-47 and, armed with a Lugar pistol, a box cutter and an unknown motive, opened fire on a high speed Amsterdam to Paris train, carrying 500 passengers. Without hesitation, he was tackled by Mark Mooglian (an American professor now living in France) and an unnamed Frenchman. Seeing that Mooglian was wounded, three young Americans from Sacramento, CA, all in their early twenties, without hesitation, charged and subdued the gunman. Spencer Stone (US Airman First Class) and two friends, Aleksander Skarlatos (Oregon National Guardsman) and Anthony Sadler (college student), showed the ultimate courage and bravery.<\/p>\n “When most of us would run away, Spencer, Alek and Anthony ran into the line of fire, saying ‘Let’s go.’ Those words changed the fate of many,” U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley said.<\/p>\n “We just kind of acted. There wasn’t much thinking going on,” Skarlatos said, \u201cat least on my end.”<\/p>\n “None at all,” said Stone with a laugh. \u201dLooking back and thinking of that fateful day, I know we did exactly what needed to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n Why did they not hide under their seats, freeze or run? It took courage and bravery. And, as Skarlatos said, his instinctive reason was, \u201cI did it to survive.\u201d For their bravery, they were awarded the Legion d\u2019Honneur, France\u2019s highest honor and left many people hoping they would react the same way.<\/p>\n [awesome-gallery id=1914] (Top Left) Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter. Photo:Rick Diamond\/The Carter Center (Top Right) NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CEREMONY, OSLO, NORWAY, 2002. PHOTO: THE CARTER CENTER\/KNUDSON PHOTOS. (Bottom Left) Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter visiting children in NIGERIA. Photo: Emily Staub\/The Carter Center (Bottom Right) JIMMY CARTER ON HORSEBACK IN GRAND TETONS, WYOMING. JIMMY CARTER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. <\/p><\/p>\n Jimmy Carter, thirty-ninth president of the United States, recently announced that he has been diagnosed with spreading cancer.<\/p>\n With his wife, Rosalynn, at his side, the ninety-year-old Ex-President and Nobel Peace Prize winner calmly and gracefully explained details at an August 20, 2015 press conference held at The Carter Center in Atlanta, GA. While viewers held back tears, Carter showed steadfastness and courage that few could have mustered.<\/p>\n \u201cRecent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body,\u201d Carter said. \u201cI will be rearranging my schedule as necessary, so I can undergo treatment.\u201d\nIn an incredible display of fortitude, he continued, \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve had a wonderful life, I\u2019ve got thousands of friends, and I\u2019ve had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence, so I was surprisingly at ease\u2014much more so than my wife was. But now I feel, you know, that it\u2019s in the hands of God and my doctors, and I\u2019ll be prepared for anything that comes and looking forward to a new adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of showing despair or retreating into depression, Carter is one of those people who finds a way to face the most debilitating crisis with unexpected ease and an instinctive drive to carry on.<\/p>\n Confronted with a crisis, some rush to meet it, some freeze and some want to run away. How successful we are at meeting life\u2019s challenges is a function of, in part, DNA, past experiences, upbringing and will power.<\/p>\n In the case of the three Americans, it was, perhaps, youthful lack of fear, boldness and survival instincts. For Carter, it was the sense of peace that he had lived a life of accomplishments, fulfillment surrounded by love and, most of all, his wife of sixty-nine years, Roslyn. \u201cThe best thing I ever did was to marry Roslyn,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n [awesome-gallery id=1928] (Top Left)Tom Brokaw receiving Medal of Honor. Photo: NBC News. (Top Right) Tom Brokaw 1974. Photo: Nixon Archive (Bottom Left) Photo: Michael O-Neill (Bottom Right) Berlin Wall Photo: NBC News <\/p><\/p>\n The ultimate challenge surely is dealing with one\u2019s own mortality.<\/p>\n Tom Brokaw knows this very well. As one of the most recognized figures in broadcast journalism, Brokaw was a nightly guest in America\u2019s living rooms for twenty-two years as anchor of NBC Nightly News. Millions have read his bestselling books, including one that named America\u2019s courageous World War II population the Greatest Generation<\/em>. His award-winning reporting of every major world event and crisis made him one of the most trusted and admired Americans, ever.<\/p>\n