Daily Affirmations

Have plenty of grit stuck to your wheels.” Heidi ​Catherine 

Grit is a four-letter word, and it is one of my best friends. A symbol for everything I aspire to—resolve, determination, focus— did I mention sheer determination?
After being used to accomplishing so much in a day—a full time job, parenting and caregiving of both little ones and my elders, shopping, having dinner parties, hiking and horseback riding,—lolly goggling around and waving at the parade as it passed me by each day, was one of the hardest parts of dealing with my R.A. (Rheumatoid Arthritis). Then, one day I was reading a book about a writer who was struggling with mental health issues, but also passionately pursuing her lifelong dream to write a young adult book. Her challenges were many, but after many fits and starts, as well as assessing what it was that helped her reach not only her goal, but the writing of another three books afterward, she talked about how grit had propelled her forward—the physical, emotional and spiritual actions of keeping going— keeping going, most especially on those days (and there are many, right?) when we feel like giving up. Right. This. Second. And we’ve only just opened our eyes! You know what? It’s working for me! I’ve got the word G. R. I. T. tattooed on my forehead, (metaphorically speaking of course), I’ve got it plugged into my spirit, and I’ve got it wrapped around myself like a tight-fitting cloak. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning and usually I’d just be rolling over in bed, (we have two sides and a back and a front to our body for a reason, no?), but G. R. I .T. is my new alarm clock, one that is allowing me to achieve, however little, the small, the things I want to achieve each and every day. Not only is GRIT a great four-letter word— it’s the kind of four letter word you can say out loud, all day long, and no one will be offended.