A Brief Musing on Determination

I spent some time this evening (8/7/06) talking with my mother, who spent the better part of the day sprucing up the landscaping around her two-story, circa 1910 farmhouse-style home in southern Minnesota. Mind you, “sprucing up” involved pruning a dogwood tree, cutting back an espaliered apple tree, and shaping up various other shrubs and bushes, as well as using a weed trimmer to polish off her entire lawn (all .25 acres of it). Tomorrow she plans to finish the job by edging 150+ feet of sidewalk. Sound like a lot of work? It does to me, but she got it done, and in one day no less!

How she accomplishes so much in one afternoon is a mystery to me. At 75, she is no spring chicken, but in much better shape than many of her peers (and, for that matter, her own children!). By personal admission, she has a bum leg, a weak hand, a moody ankle, acid reflux disease, high blood pressure (controlled by medication), and intermittent vertigo. She has also spent the last nine months liquidating my father’s estate, downsizing into a smaller home, and attending the funerals of several other relatives and friends. Still ahead is the sale of the 1910 house, her home for most of a 48-year marriage. That would be enough to put most of us on anti-depressants and still, with astounding grace and a never-ending supply of pluck, she moves forward. Amazing.

Apparently this penchant for determination is genetic, a God-given predisposition for physical endurance. My maternal grandmother relearned how to walk and speak after a devastating stroke and a broken leg. My maternal great-grandmother did the same after a stroke forced her to live with relatives and later in a nursing home. My maternal great-great grandparents raised twelve children to adulthood, all of them surviving their 79-year old father, a stunning feat in late 19th century America. So stunning, in fact, that it was actually mentioned in my great-great grandfather’s obituary. Still another ancestral grandfather lived to 105, failing in health only at that extremely advanced age. I actually have a photocopy of his will.

Or is this level of determination a learned behavior? As a child, I was taught that quitting and escaping were both unwise. Quitters cheated themselves out of an understanding of their personal capabilities, and those who escaped risked thwarting a practical life education whose lessons could be painfully repeated before they were thoroughly assimilated. Please note that escape and vacation are not the same. One demonstrates a lack of ability to cope; the other is a proactive method of coping.

So, which is it --- nature or nurture? We all learn attitudes and beliefs from our life experiences. On the other hand, it is hard to argue with a family tree full of people who made it to an advanced age in relatively good health. In any case, I need to spend less time at my computer and more time doing some good old-fashioned hard work before I short-circuit my God-given genes with a penchant for laziness. TTFN.

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. --- Isaiah 40:31 NASB