Guts, Grit, and Grind...

Over the course of the last few months I've listened for words to pop up in reading, conversation, movies, messages, podcasts, etc.  Every time I hear something several times in a day or over the course of a week in various contexts, I'll write it down.  I don't know if this is God speaking, but I'm at least fascinated by the odds of certain words being said several times in an hour or day or week that you just don't hear all that often.

One day recently I was listening to a talk show and they were talking about the world's need for plain old grit in a world of snowflakes.  Just as the guy said this I looked up and plastered on a billboard was an advertisement that promoted their business with the word "Grit".  It's stuff like that that I tune into for some reason wondering if life is telling me something, or better yet, God.  Later that day I was in a conversation with someone and they talked about the need for grit and gonads.  Gonads isn't a word that I've heard much though I'm sure there's a need for them, but GRIT got my attention.  They are in a position of leadership and spoke of the stamina needed to hold the line on some days.

Three times in one day!

So needless to say, I wrote down the word GRIT and have been hearing it all over the place.

A couple others have made my little notepad as well.  They fit in the same category and start with the same letter (the Baptist in me likes that a lot!).  I would say I'm learning that these three things are so important in order to succeed in whatever God has put you on this earth to do and be.  Nothing that matters comes easy, so these three words keep me fighting the good fight when I'm tempted to tap out:

Guts.

Somebody has to do things afraid.  They have to feel the same heckling from the peanut gallery and proceed anyhow.  They have to feel the weight of what's at stake and charge forward aware of the risk but driven by the reward.

Life takes guts.  Leadership takes guts.  Parenting takes guts.  Friendship takes guts.  Living in this world takes guts when you stand for God.  Guts.  The Bible encourages us to "gird up our loins".  I'm not sure all that it means, but it certainly implies what I'm trying to describe here.  Living takes nerve.  Nerves of steel on some days.

All the best stuff we enjoy in this world came because someone had guts.  You've heard the phrase: "No guts, no glory" and the reason why it passes down for generation to generation is because it's true and transcendent.  We just know that anything in life that's worth anything has to be fought for and most of what you're fighting against is fear.  Fear of rejection, failure, & the unknown.  Most of the people I look up to have spilled their guts and put their guts out there holding nothing back.

I want to have guts, too.

Grit.

I don't know why this word popped up three times in one day a few weeks back, but I think there's something to it.  I've been hearing it more and more lately.  It's usually employed when someone is searching for a word to describe someone who soldiered through a challenge with good ole' fashioned perseverance and determination.

I know it's easy to just give up.  Nobody is watching it seems.  Fewer care.  Nobody would probably blame you for bailing and finding something else to throw your energy at.  But some people don't throw in the towel when they're getting knocked down, they dig deep, find another gear and figure out a way to forge ahead.  I'm telling you this person is hard to find nowadays.  This generation gets so bored so fast losing interest and intensity as the glory of an activity fades and the honeymoon stage is over.

Grit keeps you up until it's done.  It wakes you up early to get a jump start on the day.  When others are calling it quits, it retorts with a motto: "No quit, all grit."  Others drop like flies, but the people I've sought to model my life after have this internal fortitude, an indescribable will power.  They stay the course.  They are faithful to the finish.

I want to have grit, too.

Grind.

Another word for it is "hustle".  The quality of just being able to grind it out when you're in the grind of life is a admirable virtue.  Grind takes initiative and innovation.  When life throws a curve, a person with grind figures out a way to hit it.  They swing and miss, but after they do, they learn from the miss.

Someone said, "I never lose, I only learn."  That's what a grinder does, they fail forward.  They keep assessing shortfalls coming up with better ways to beat the odds.  They study the opponent, the opposition.  They find paths to achieve their objectives when everyone else is saying it can't be done.  They rarely say "can't".  They say won't (that has to do with boundaries), but infrequently can't (that has to do with resignation).  It's just not their attitude toward challenges.

They have an ingenuity and insanity that makes them believe that given enough time they can find a way, and while they are getting pummeled, they are assembling steps to start things and stop things.  They aren't neccesarily smart, they just don't relent.  I can't remember the movie, I think it's We Bought a Zoo (don't quote me on that) but one of the famous lines went something like this: "It just takes 20 seconds of insane courage, literally 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery.  And I promise you something great will come of it." 

That's it.  That's grit.  Finding a way.  Figuring out a solution.  Fighting 5 seconds more than the second to last guy standing.  Just 5 seconds more.  I have grown to appreciate the patient passion of the grinders out there...those that take their punches, but won't stop swinging until they land something.

I want to have grind, too.

A so there you have 3 words that have presented themselves to me as of late.  I'm sure God's whispering words to you, too.  Listen to these nudges.  You never know what small thing is depending on your attention to detail and passion to overcome.  It honestly seperates the victors from the victims in our world.

God, make me a leader with guts, grit, and grind all the days of my short life.  

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