Determination
“The
most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely
tenacity. The fears are
paper
tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change
and control your life and the procedure, the process is its own
reward.”
Amelia
Earhart
Amelia Earhart, pioneer
American Aviator, was a true warrior-woman. She did not allow the
course of her life to be dictated by others. She had grit and
determination, and the will to be in control of her own destiny. And,
she almost did what she set out to do, which was to fly around the
world. At the time (1937), women's right's were in their infancy. The
US was one of the last countries to give women the right to
vote—1920. Earhart had the privilege of pursuing her dreams because
she wouldn't take “no” for an answer, and of course, because she
was white. It would be another eighteen years (1955) before Rosa
Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, AL,
and ushered in the civil rights era for African Americans.
Thankfully, we've made
progress in that department—not nearly enough progress, but at
least, some. The main lesson here is don't give up. The other
important lesson is, “the process is its own reward.”
Sometimes we are so focused on the goal, the end result of our
labors, that we miss the joy of the process. Learning something new,
forging a trail, as Amelia Earhart did, is filled with frustration,
hard labor, but also exhilaration. If we can persist through failure
and defeat and just keep going, the process becomes the best part.
Though I must admit, achieving the goal is pretty sweet, too.
I have a young friend who
has been battling for his life. He's ten years old and was just
diagnosed with Type-I Diabetes. After two weeks in ICU, too many
touch and go moments to count, he is now showing signs of steady
recovery. He didn't give up, and neither did his parents and
grandparents. The whole family has stuck together, stood their
ground, bonded in faith and hope, and refused to give up or give in to their fear. And that's what it takes to succeed, whether you're
standing beside a sick child, or trying to fly around the world. It
takes grit.
The Lakeshore Foundation,
where I work out, is an Olympic and Paralympic training site. If you
go into the field house on a day when the USA wheelchair rugby team
is training, you'll need to hold your ears and stay alert. These
guys, both male and female, are serious athletes with a “do or die”
attitude. Their motto, posted around the gym, is: “There is no
physical limit to human achievement.” It takes heart and soul
committed to a cause, and you can see by their determined
expressions, that commitment is its own reward.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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