Stick With It

I used to love reading Louis L'Amour books. They weren't too long, they were easy to understand, and they were inspirational. If the hero can get shot four times, drag himself across the desert, and still fight off the bad guys while rescuing a woman, then surely I can get my floor vacuumed. His books made me want to be stronger and work harder.

In my younger years, I was basically a lazy, undisciplined person. I grew up with the attitude that if something didn't come easy for me, I would have little to do with it. Or if it made me uncomfortable or didn't show immediate results, I would quit too soon.

But then my own children came along, and I began spouting all of these motivational sayings to teach my children certain lessons. I quickly realized that I had to start practicing what I preached because they were learning more from watching me than listening to me. If I expected them to keep their rooms clean, then I'd better be willing to do the same. If I expected them to stick with something until they figured it out, then I'd better show that I wouldn't give up too easily on something as well.

Math was never my strong suit, and I assumed the part of my brain that dealt with algebra was simply missing. But one day I sat down with the determination to complete an algebra problem just to see if I could do it. It took me an hour, but I did it. I realized there were quite a few areas in my life that I'd avoided because I hadn't been willing to take the time or work hard enough to figure them out.

Some years ago, starting the lawnmower was another aggravation that I gave up too easily. But with this new-found determination (and the shock that my 96 year old great aunt still mowed her lawn), I decided that no matter how many pulls it took, I wasn't going to quit until the lawnmower started. I learned that it took between twenty to twenty-five pulls to start my lawnmower. What freedom! What a sense of empowerment! I was so proud of myself, I started mowing everything in sight. After several weeks, though, my niece and nephew showed me that little bubble primer thing you're supposed to push that allows you to start the mower in one or two pulls. Oh. The little bubble primer thing. Well, I guess that saved me from having an arm like Popeye's.

My daughter and I started taking care of the library lawn when I was the library director in Cotulla, and the first time I mowed those slopes, I thought I was going to have a stroke. I'd have to go stand under a tree and pant every so often. I was proud of completing the job, but then I dreaded having to do it the next time. But I began telling myself that this was good exercise, and that a lot of people pay good money to join a fitness gym to sweat and work just as hard. Looking at it from that point of view really changed my attitude about something that started out so miserably. I began to think of it as my lawn mowing exercise program, and eventually started taking care of five yards. I seriously considered contacting Richard Simmons to do a Mowing with the Oldies fitness video, but the dramatic before and after photos would only include the lawns.

Success and failure in life truly are matters of attitude and will. The negative is either to avoid it and don't try at all or to start something and quit, while the positive is making the attempt whether successful or not, and if not, keep trying. That's the key: keep on trying.

And if you still need some inspiration and motivation to stick with it, go visit the Sackett boys.