Meadows interviews a number of people, one a psychologist (whose name frankly escapes me at the moment). This psychologist talks about the grit to get through things. Grit is made up, psychologically, of persistence, hard work, and possibly the most important element, hope. It could also be characterized as believing that you have control over something that allows you to keep hopeful and keep working. Also, so that you don't despair. Despair, I think leads to giving up.
It occurs to me that the concept of refusing to give up, believing that we have control and that there is hope can get us through many things. It might be a medical challenge. It might be keeping the dream of becoming a writer or actor alive. It might be working to clean up the local river. It might be running for political office because you don't like the direction things are taking. It might be working towards a particular degree or certification to be able to have a particular career. A friend asked me in the middle of bringing my book into being whether I believed it would actually be published. I told her that I had to or there was no point in continuing to work on it. Well, yes, it's self-published, but it is published. It was daunting at times (although not as daunting as facing the medical challenges written about in these 3 books), but I kept at with my book designer's help.
What is your other side of impossible? What keeps you going?
The first photo is by Nathan Dumlao. The second is by Fab Lentz. They were found on unsplash.com
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