I know, it doesn't seem to make sense at first glance.  Telling someone that they need to learn how to be a coward doesn't seem to be sound advice.  But believe me, there are times that many of us need to learn how to be a coward.  Sometimes doing so can save our marriages, our careers and even our lives. 

Life takes us through many twists and turns.  During our journey, we sometimes put value on the wrong things.  We allow others to determine what road or action we need to take and sometimes, because of bravado, that decision can backfire. 

Years ago, when I was in college, I met a young man named Joe.  Joe was a quadriplegic - having been paralyzed from the neck down because of a fall he had taken.  Joe was a very likable person and we hit it off right away. He didn't talk much about his circumstances.  He never pitied himself nor sought pity from anyone.  One day I was working with Joe on a paper and a few friends came by looking for me.  It seems they wanted me to come along with them to retrieve some property that had been stolen from one of them over the weekend.  They were sure they knew who had committed the theft and wanted to go over to his dorm room, "beat him down," as they put it and retrieve what was rightfully theirs.  I didn't want to come across as weak so I agreed to go along with them.  I told them that I would meet them in about 10 minutes at the student center. 

After they left Joe looked at me and said, "I'm like this because of the very same thing that you are getting ready to do."  It seems that Joe was injured because he listened to a dare and dove off of a cliff into lake.  Unfortunately the lake was not deep enough.  "You see," he explained, "I really didn't want to be the one not to take the dare.  And so, I went first.  And now, I spend my days in this chair, and my friends, well, I haven't seen them since the accident."

Sometimes in life we have to learn how to be a coward.  If there is bravery within us, it will come out spontaneously at the appropriate time and in the appropriate situations.  But until or should those situations occur, we need to make sure that we are living our lives wisely and not confusing stupidity with bravery.