‘Firmness of mind; invincible spirit; unyielding courage; fortitude.’ - C. Reade. E. P. Whipple.
Grit is, essentially coarse sand. When you describe a person as having grit, then it refers to a list of rich qualities of a person. The phrase ‘true grit’ came from a John Wayne film (which he won an Academy Award for) of the same title. Wayne was, unarguably, the most prominent cowboy actor in Hollywood’s history. Singer, Glen Campbell made his first big-screen role in this film, which co-starred Kim Darby, Dennis Hopper and Robert Duvall [from www.Wikipedia.com].
Author Charles Portis, described in his book motley of characters, who demonstrate the different faces of courage. True grit is a term bestowed on those who display firmness of character; indomitable spirit; and pluck [from www.dictionary.com].
Major Phil Packer, a soldier injured by a rocket attack in Iraq finished the London Marathon, two weeks after the race began. The 36-year-old completed the course by walking two miles a day on crutches since the marathon started on April 26, and was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers who lined the final mile.
Packer raised 630,000 pounds for the Help For Heroes soldiers' charity, and is hoping to raise enough to reach the one-million-pound mark. He walked a total of 52,400 steps and, usually, with some company.
Major Phil Packer demonstrated true grit for making that two-week journey, and for educating the public about the armed forces. In his quest to help others he showed his leadership qualities of endurance, commitment, generosity of spirit, and sense of purpose.
If you know of somebody who demonstrates true grit, please let us know. We would love to recognize them.
2 comments:
I relate Grit to Fighting Spirit. Its a fine line between Fighting Spirit and Stupidity. There are more cases of people asking if they should race while just recovered from illness or injuries.
The tag line for IMWA 08 (Winning comes from daring to start), i felt that it is even bravier to say 'no' to the race despite committment to all logistic and finance aspect. Learning to say 'no' is a bigger challenge and knowing when to say it would be ultimate....
That's a gritty statement. To say 'no' to oneself. We know of an injured athlete who braved further injury to attempt IMWA 2008. He may have, grit his teeth, and forged ahead in spite of the pain. I am, of the opinion, it was silly (even if he did not incur additional injury). However, as Forrest Gump said: 'Stupid is as stupid does!'
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