“It is defeat that turns bone to flint, and
gristle to muscle, and makes men invincible, and formed those heroic natures
that are now in ascendency in the world. Do not, then, be afraid of defeat. You
are never so near to victory as when defeated in a good cause.” - Henry Ward Beecher
As
evidenced in the story of Louis Zamperini who survived shipwreck and Japanese
prison camp during World War II or the story of Aaron Ralston, the young hiker
who amputated his own arm when it was crushed by an 800 pound boulder, the notion of the will to survive is an important concept
when attempting to understand and comprehend why we do what we do. This can be
related to either one’s push for survival on the brink of death, or someone who
is just trying to find a meaning to continuing their life in the face of severe
hardship. Some researchers say that those who have a reason or purpose in life
during such dreadful and horrific experiences, will often appear to fare better
than those that may find such experiences overwhelming. Every day,
people undergo countless types of negative experiences, some which may be
demoralizing, hurtful, or tragic. An ongoing question continues to be what
maintains the will to survive in these situations.
The years of The Great Depression were especially hard on
Kansas farmers because the economic crisis coincided with years of drought and
dust storms. Farmers and economists alike had not foreseen
the drop in demand for American goods at the end of World War I. The abundant harvest coupled with falling
demand left an excess of crop and not enough profit to pay for
expenditures. Overproduction led to
plummeting prices which led to stagnant market conditions and living standards
for farmers in the 1920s. Gradually, the small family farm that had long been
the model was replaced by larger and more business-oriented farms.
Hundreds of
thousands of farmers had taken out mortgages and loans to buy out their
neighbors’ property, and now were unable to meet the financial burden. The
cause was the collapse of land prices after the wartime bubble which left
farmers saddled with heavy debts. More and more small farmers were forced to
give up the land and seek employment elsewhere in order to survive.
The power to ‘hold
on’ is mental strength characteristic of anyone who persevered in the face of
adversity. They may lack in some other
area, have many weaknesses or eccentricities, but the quality of persistence is
never absent. No matter what opposition they meet or what discouragement or
obstacles they face, they manage to survive through perseverance. It is not so
much brilliancy of intellect, or fertility of resource, as persistency of
effort and constancy of purpose, that helps them survive. They know that if
they ever accomplish their personal goals they must do it by determined and
persistent industry.
We hear a great deal
of talk about wealth, genius, talent, luck, chance, or cleverness playing a
large part in one’s personal success. Leaving out luck and chance, all these
elements are important factors. Yet the possession of any or all of them,
unaccompanied by a definite aim, a determined purpose, will not insure personal
success.
Persistency of purpose is a power.
The persistent man never stops to consider whether he is succeeding or not. The
only question with him is how to push ahead, to get a little farther along, a
little nearer his goal. Whether it leads over mountains, rivers, or swamps, he
must reach it. Every other consideration is sacrificed to this one dominant
purpose.
Education is nothing without
strong and vigorous resolution and stamina to make one accomplish something in
the world. An encouraging start is nothing without backbone.
Opposing circumstances create
strength. Opposition gives us greater power of resistance. To overcome one
barrier gives us greater ability to overcome the next.
Success is not
measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered,
and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming
odds. Not the distance we have run, but the obstacles we have overcome, the
disadvantages under which we have made the race, will decide the prizes.
Without the cowboys
and schoolmarms of yesteryear who persevered in spite of incredible hardships,
our country would not have grown and prospered to be the world power it is
today. We owe these pioneers a debt of
gratitude for their strength and fortitude.
They are the backbone of the nation and a testament to the power of the
human spirit.
