Long before "Rooster Cogburn", my Dad taught me about "grit",

[Atticus]

He only talked to me about it once, but he demonstrated the concept on a daily basis.

Grit is what one showed when they played hurt because the team needed them. Or went to work injured because they couldn't afford to lose the pay or, possibly, the job. Or took work that was dangerous and dirty and exhausting because it paid 50 cents and hour more and there were braces and tuition to pay for.

On a personal level, he taught me that we should pick our battles carefully, but then hold nothing back when we entered the fray. I have a slightly crooked nose and scarred knuckles to show that I put his advice to the test more than once.

But, most importantly, Dad taught me that having grit meant, simply, having the ferocious determination to follow through, to "get 'er done" even when the shitstorms came and you found yourself alone and scared and weary. Grit required you to finish. Grit required that you do what you said you would do; reach the destination you set out for; pull your own weight and maybe a little more.

I'm thinking of what dad taught me about grit as I wonder what we are going to hear from President Obama tomorrow night. I fervently hope that he will challenge us to undertake the sacrifice necessary to change our economy from one dependent on other people's oil and other carbon fuels to one based on renewable energy. As soft and spoiled as we have become, I believe that if called upon to share the sacrifice that such a drastic restructuring would require, we, the American people, will find within us that pride and stubborn determination that saw our parents and grandparents through the crises of their generations.

Dad would have said that we WILL do it because we MUST do it. No big thing, just---grit.

[johnaries]

1. I believe in you because you have grit, TRUE grit.

Perseverance, to "git 'er done" whatever it takes. Sometimes, that requires compromise. But if that's what it takes, then doing what has to be done is a sign of True Grit. Even if it sometimes leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

A lot of people don't understand that.

Progress is never easy. It is, however, very messy. At least, if it's Progress worth anything. The world isn't full of rainbows and unicorns. You should always celebrate the little victories, whenever and where-ever you can find them.

That's a lesson many people have yet to learn.

[htuttle]

2. That reminds me of something ol' Jack Burton used to say...

When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that:
"Have ya paid your dues, Jack?"
"Yessir, the check is in the mail."


I've been in the taxi industry for half of my life this year, 23 years. In that time, I've seen as many lives ground down into dust by adversity as were strengthened by it, probably more. Grit is what is left when the niceness gets worn off. Nothing wrong with it, and hopefully we all got it because we're all going to need it, but struggle is nothing to crow about for it's own sake.

I know the OP wasn't actually saying that, but I hear the sentiment a lot when conversations go in this direction. I just want to say that I wish that everyone on Earth had it easy forever. Not going to happen, though.