Notes to my unborn child: Determination

Determination... now there's a powerful value.  Never underestimate the power of determination in your life: it will help you overcome all sorts of obstacles.  It is like rocket fuel.  Your passion ignites your engine, but it is your determination that will enable you to turn your dreams into reality.

Determination is less about hard work, and more about a complete commitment to your vision.  

The most radical aspect of determination is that it transforms obstacles into solutions-waiting-to-be-born.  When determination is aligned with passion, purpose, and joy, it acts like a lubricant, helping you to overcome obstacles with ease.  When you have a dream, but no determination, each obstacle will make you question whether you should follow that dream or not.  When you are determined to realise that dream, the obstacles are no longer as big or as daunting; they melt into challenges that help you uncover new ways of being and doing.  Determination opens doors that you cannot even imagine before you embark on a particular journey.
What I have learnt about Determination
When I was doing my final exams in school, my teachers thought I was a pretty average student (at best!).  One evening in September, a friend of Dad's came for supper.  He was a pilot.  Listening to him speak, I decided then and there that I wanted to be a pilot too.

I became determined to be a pilot.  That meant I had to work incredibly hard to gain the grades necessary.  Weekends, evenings, holidays... I studied constantly.  It was hard work, but my determination to achieve my goal meant that I could work that hard, that passionately, and not feel that it was a burden.  Determination dissolved any sense of burden.

As you may know, I didn't become a pilot!  I did get spectacular exam results, but I failed the aptitude test!  And here is the second learning I received: pursuing a goal (even if others say it is unrealistic) is always worthwhile, even if we don't achieve that goal.  The journey will bring us to where we are meant to be.  And each journey will open up new opportunities and enrich our character.


What I wish for you
My wish for you is that you play with determination.  That you discover, through the course of your life, visions, goals and dreams that you decide to pursue with determination.  

My wish for you is that experience the sense of fulfillment and exhileration that comes from committing to something you believe in whole-heartedly, whether you appear to succeed or to fail.

Remember, it is often the journey that matters more than the destination.