Hump Day Nudge: True Grit

I went to a book launch this evening for the book, When Quitting is NOT an Option, written by Arvid Loewen, with assistance by his son, Paul Loewen.  I’ve written about who I affectionally call, my-crazy-Uncle Arvid before, back when he set a Guiness World Record in ultra marathon cycling.

Often, people hang up their helmets when they break a record. He didn’t rest when he set the record.  He tried to break his own record a year later, and failed.

Sometimes, when people fail, they hang their head in shame, and turn in their wheels.  He didn’t let failure stop him.  He set out in Race Across America, the longest single stage bike race in North America.  From California to Maryland as fast as you can go…crazy, huh?

Well, he did it.  He’s got grit:

I saw this video about the importance of “grit” as the most significant predictor of success.  For every student struggling to stick with school, every junior employee who wants to work towards success, every young mother of toddlers that have endless needs--for everyone who has important, but distant goals on the horizon, this is worth 6 minutes of your life:

When I think of grit, I think of my Uncle Arvid.  He’s taught me a lot about sticking with something.  When he went for his first bike ride years ago, he got 30 kilometres into his planned 40 kilometre bike ride before he called my aunt to pick him up, ‘cuz he couldn’t go any further. He made it to Lockport, and only half way back.

But he stuck with it.

And this summer, he’s going for another crazy record.  The fastest 10000 km ride in the world…he’ll have to do it in about 21 days.  He’ll be doing it going back and forth (and back and forth, and back and forth) between Lockport and Winnipeg.

Yeah.  Do the math.  And shudder.

And then admire his grit.

Hump Day Nudge is a column written to encourage us all on Wednesday, when we are in the middle third of the week…too far from the previous weekend to feel rested, with the coming weekend still seeming a ways off. May you find your grit to persevere and stay passionate through this season of your life.