Determination

I worked all day on a project for school. My project's overall theme is Determination, and I have been inspired as I have worked. I have encountered stories of trials, obstacles, and seemingly insurmountable odds. Yet these are stories of determination not because the initiator met difficulties and abandoned the effort, but because he or she believed that the cause was worth the fight to overcome the challenges.
Abraham Lincoln.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cesar Chavez.
Mother Teresa.
Jane Addams.
I have read quotes, researched struggles, and searched my brain to define what characterizes determination. The struggles are ugly, sometimes bloody. Obstacles are overwhelming, sometimes causing despair and much temptation to abandon a cause. The odds are grave. Yet these people overcame, and my life is better because they were willing to fight for equality, service to the poor, equal rights and citizenship, and more. I end today with a few more heroes in my pocket than I began with.


"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
~ Helen Keller