T is for Tenacity: How Hungry Are You?

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'.

~ Muhammad Ali

Back in January, I began the One Page a Day Challenge and immediately threw away my quill.  Now in April, I’m participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge and prepping for a Wilderness Writers’ Retreat.  I need ink, a stiff drink and therapy.

T

ime. There never seems to be enough of it.

Yet we still twenty-four hours in a day.  The same amount that Leonardo da Vinci had to work with.

As did Vincent Van Gogh.

John William Waterhouse.

Sylvia Plath.

Edith Wharton.

Albert Einstein.

T.S. Eliot.

J.R.R. Tolkien.

But perhaps they had something I do not.

T is for Tenacity

They had a grasp on at least three things that I struggle with, but all three can be summed up in one word:

Tenacity.

(A better word might be passion but that’s not a T word and today is brought to us by the letter T.)

Tenacity means that no matter what, you follow your dream.  You stick it out.  You endure the highs, the lows, and the very boring in-betweens.

It means that you manage your time wisely (the second ingredient) and that your daily tasks and goals match up to your dream. 

New growth on a burnt tree after
Australian brush fire.
Image Credit: Marc Anderson

Tenacity is honing your craft, becoming even better at it, even when you’re tired from your day job.  A writer once said, “I hate writing.  I love having written.”  That sentiment applies to any dream we may have. 

We may hate the training, the clean-up, the grunge work that goes into realizing any dream.  We love the dream already fulfilled.

T is for Term: The Long and Short of It

Too often, we focus on the short-term benefits of an action or in-action.  We forget to look at the big picture and the long term effects ~ be they good or bad.  

We have to know where the end point is, what we’re working towards, in order to make better, wiser choices about our dreams.

As an E/INFP, I tend the opposite direction: I see the big picture and intuit how to get there, but sometimes miss the little details that could make the path a smoother one.  I see the end and say, “I want be there!” or “I want to do that!”  and…never get off the ground. 

I’m a 747 that has the ability, the strength, and the knowledgeable pilot to get to my destination, but I forgot to put gas in the tank.

There has to be balance.  Virtue is found in the mean, not the extreme.  Keep the end in sight, but also follow the steps carefully to get there.  Otherwise, you’ll get side-tracked and never make it to your destination.

How much do you really want that dream to come true?  How hungry are you?  How passionate are you?

How much are you willing to bleed for your dreams?

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

As a “Perceiver” these structured things really kill me.  But I know they’re sometimes a necessary evil to reaching a goal.  What motivates you?