You Have More Determination Than You Think

How much determination do you have deep down inside of you? It might not take much to find out. One couple found out pretty quickly when they were on their honeymoon in the 1970’s. They decided to take a year to backpack around South America. On that adventure they ended up in a plane crash. After the crash in a remote place the only place for shelter was in a prison. After being rescued they kept their adventure going. They missed a boat to Bolivia so they built their own raft. They used it to float down a dangerous Amazon tributary. A severe thunderstorm threw them off course and left them eating frogs and slugs. You can read all about it here.

The couple survived their ordeal because of their determination (and a whole lotta God’s grace). But a turning point came for them in the midst of a dire time when they feared they would never leave the South American swamp alive. In the midst of hunger and survival mode, the wife, Holly, suddenly  discovered deep within herself the desire to have children at some point in the future. She did not want to die without having her own offspring.

So she convinced her husband to fight.

And they fought to live with all the determination they could muster. After surviving twenty-six days of bad weather, terrifying sounds from the jungle, and eating South American creatures, they were rescued by some natives.

The human spirit is much stronger than we often realize. Our bodies, when tested, can do far more than we think they can. Sometimes determination is forced upon us. But when it is, strength from deep within us wells up and moves us forward.

Yet far too often we wait until we find ourself in a difficult circumstance before we muster up gumption and strength. We sit around in our comfortable homes and offices and wonder why we don’t have motivation. In all seriousness, it might be beneficial to expose ourselves to some discomfort every once in while. It helps us perform better in stressful or less than perfect conditions. (Tim Ferriss talks about that here.)

Here’s the point: Try to muster up more than usual determination today to do something you’ve been putting off. Use The Five Second Rule and make it happen. Count down out loud and jump right in.

You’ll probably surprise yourself.

How do you muster up determination?

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