Ultragrit

I'm still taken with the idea of grit and what keeps the tough going. Have you read about these three guys who ran, yeah, ran across the Sahara. Yeah, the desert. See an article about one of them, Charlie Engle, former drug addict, now ultramarathoner:

http://tinyurl.com/2nwrnk

How about the 70 or 80 year olds who regularly run the 26 plus mile kind of marathons?

It seems incredible that some people are able to do the most remarkable things by sheer force of will. After all, it doesn't take much intellect to run a marathon. I'm not sure there's even an innate ability required.

But the passion, that can't be learned. You have to love it. At the risk of repeating myself, I'd really like most of my friends and people I work with to think more seriously about the passion thing.

There are plenty of reasons to try to do things you're passionate about. You're more likely to get into a state of flow if you're doing something you love and are good at. You're more likely to be good at something you love. Or is it you're more likely to love something you're good at. Does it matter?

It's never boring when you have passion. You can be persistent and diligent, or gritty, when there's a true connection to what you're doing.

Too many of us do things because we "should," we'll make more money, it's easy, and the like. I'm not saying work has to be hard, but there's a certain satisfaction you feel about a difficult job well done that's a bit thrilling. Not like a rollercoaster thrilling, but warmly, satisfyingly ultrathrilling.

You don't have to run an ultramarathon to feel that thrill. Dig deep and find your passion, and get gritty.


See some ultragrit in Rescue Dawn or The Great Escape.