A friend of mine from Arizona just shared this Ted-Talk on grit. It was timely for me to hear. Back in 1975 or 1976, I was still working in a lab in Oklahoma. I had been assigned to do a research project on water quality associated with a catfish farming operation. I had no idea when I started, just after my sophomore year in college, what all it would entail. Well, after two years of research, my research leader then instructed me to write it up for publication. Again, I was clueless. It was a brutal process. I would analyze and write and take it to him, and he would seemingly just treat me like an absolute idiot, which I felt I was! Then we had to do in-house reviews, which meant it was sent to three researchers on his level (PhD research leaders with many years of experience!) who worked for the Agricultural Research Service, where we worked then, for a review. They were brutal in their reviews, literally chiding me with snide comments). Corrections and edits were made. Then were our own out-house reviews (what I called them; and worse). The paper was sent to researchers outside of our division. They were equally brutal. More adjustments. Then it was submitted to the, Journal of the American Fisheries Society (who knew there was such a thing?!) for publication. They also sent it for peer reviews. Who knew catfish and water mattered that much?! I was a twenty-something year-old grad student worried about finishing my degrees, figuring out what it meant to be Christian, getting girls, growing up, and making money (not always necessarily in that order). Somewhere in the process of getting the paper published, I quite by accident found out a critical piece of information about the catfish farming operation that made a huge difference in the whole project, potentially nullifying all of our work!. I told my boss. I had not set this project up, but had only assisted in its design, as I was completely unqualified at the beginning, and arguably at the end. I told my boss and he ripped my up one side and down the other, as if I was responsible. I went in my office, got the paper, and went and threw it on his desk and told him he could have it! I was assertive back then (which Ive clearly grown out of:), but not generally stupid. But I was exasperated. I then walked out and left. Now I hadnt formally quit, but I didnt know what Id done or how he would perceive it. I finally cooled off and became logical and realized that I may have just lost my job, which to me was a great job unlike any I could get anywhere else. And it paid a lot more than I could make anywhere else. Lots of chemistry majors would have killed for my job! So after a couple of hours I went back in to face the music, fully expecting that I could be fired. The office I shared was at the end of the hall by the door and his was the next office. My lab was across the hall. I tried to sneak in and sit at my desk before I went and faced him. As I sat down I saw on my desk my most recent edited copy of the paper, which I had basically thrown at him, and on top of it was a quote from Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States. Well, that hed laid the paper in there said to me that I might at least still have a job. That hed taken the time to copy the quote and give it to me, said a lot more. Sam Smith was a good man. He was a very hard-working researcher. I learned a lot from him. He was a soil scientist that published a lot of research, and he put up with a lot from the likes of me, David Dillow, Fred Ingram, Steve Wells, Reatha Williams, and Linda Young, my co-workers and com-padres in crime there at the lab! Seriously. Well, the quote inspired me greatly and I eventually got the issue resolved, the research published, and promptly left the lab shortly thereafter and went into something much easier--ministry!! I jest. I hadnt even gotten my baptism of fire yet! Little did I know what that little experience was preparing me for in my ministry life. Right after I got married, I got my newly wedded wife Tana to put the original piece of paper (a Xerox copy, for those who know what that means) on a plaque (decoupaged, for those that know what that means). I have kept that plaque on my wall every place Ive been since. Its on my office wall at the church today and I read it regularly, especially when Im discouraged. This Ted-Talk reminded me of my commitment to never ever give up. I still havent. This along with Churchills never quit quote both float somewhere amidst my knowledge of and love for Christ and inspire me when it all seems too hard, whatever it is that is currently being faced. Heres the quote: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Theres one more sentence of the quote that is not on my plaque: The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. That last is pretty humanistic and I dont believe that per se, but I do believe in pressing on. Youve got to have grit if you intend to challenge the status quo and do hard things. I hope that if you are bothering to read this long post that you will find inspiration today to press on in your own dreams and calling! God bless! Bud VanHooser, Albert Law, (Hailey) Shannon Ganster, et. al. Perhaps this might spur you on in your most difficult battles at present!
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 14:53:50 +0000
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