Determination

I’ve been thinking a lot about something my friend Pierre encourages in a presentation of his. His presentation promotes taking care of yourself in order to be the best you can be, and in turn you will be much better at helping those around you too. The thing that interests me most about his discourse is a section about determination. He says something to the effect that if you want to take a jog every evening at 7 o’clock, don’t let anything get in between you and your 7 o’clock jog. The reason I’ve been pondering this point is because just when I think life can’t get any more complicated and busy, it does.
 I’ve been meaning to hike Mount Olympus this whole summer, but I haven’t yet. I keep telling myself I will, but last weekend I had a tree come down and I’m still cleaning it up, and the weekend before that I had an early morning work meeting on Saturday that threw off my whole weekend, and the weekend before that I had to clean my house, and the weekend before that…
 My resolve is often weak. I’m not a planner, except for when it comes to far-away vacations. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy, and I usually go with the flow and do whatever seems fun or necessary at the moment. There is relatively no stability in my life outside of my work schedule. So how do I do what I want to do without not doing it because something else comes up?
 One old person I know would say, “Grow a spine!” After hearing this, I would normally bristle and counter with a prideful statement to indicate that I do indeed have a spine, but the image is nonetheless accurate. I feel like a jellyfish, being pushed this way and that in an endless ocean of possibilities and opportunities. The only way I’m going to reach any of my destinations with any amount of surety requires the help of evolution: I have to grow a spine, along with fins and a powerful tail in order to cut through the powerful currents that lead me to, well, wherever they want to take me.
 So this weekend, I’ve got a date with a mountain. I’m not going to let anyone or anything get in the way. What’s that you say? What if a whole tree falls on my house? It’ll have to wait until I’m done hiking. What if there’s a work emergency? I’m turning my phone off Friday night and not turning it back on until after the hike. What if my house is so cluttered that I can’t find my hiking boots? I’ll hike barefoot (or maybe at least with some socks on).
 The fact of the matter is I will never do anything as long as I allow other things to interfere with my plans. Determination, like any other skill, requires practice. It’s not one of those things that you either have or you don’t. It’s a learned trait that everyone can exercise. So if there’s anything you’ve been putting off because other things keep getting in the way (i.e. camping trip, Grand Canyon visit, moose hunt), discover the determination inside of you and grow a spine!