A Determined Mouse

Nan’s Grandparents lived just south of Atlanta in a town of 200 where everything and everyone was an antique. They had no television. When folks might crawl into the TV for entertainment, Gram and Gramps would sit on the back porch pitting cherries, snapping beans, or peeling potatoes for a meal. When the chores were done, they would talk to each other or read.

When Nan and i went to visit Gram and Gramps she told us about when the refrigerator broke. Nan’s Gram said she put some things out on the back porch to “keep.” She figured they might as well be in reach of where she need them, while they waited for the the “Fix-it” man to come the next day. The back porch was enclosed and shaded from the heat.

Gram said the next morning she made coffee and went out to the porch to enjoy her garden and some time to think. That’s when she noticed that “a visitor” had come in the night to find something to eat.

“Must have been a field mouse,” she said as she described a flattened bag of chocolate chips meant for some cookies shed planned to make. “That mouse had a goal and worried that bag to death until he got the very last chocolate chip. He was a determined critter. He didn’t let some bag win.” That’s what Gram said.

Are You Determined?

Whenever I feel anxious or notice my motivation slip, I think of that mouse. I put my goal where I can see it. I become determined — like that critter. I let my goal determine where I’m going, what it takes to be satisfied, where I’ll be ending up. Then, I get determined about my success — I “worry,” plow, and navigate over, under, and through whatever irritations life throws between me that vision I value.

Are you determined?
Determined, resolute, decided, resolved — the end is undisputed.
Being determined is the difference between sticking out and leaving things unfinished.
Being determined changes roadblocks and obstacles in to problems to solved.
With determination, we change habits, attitudes, and even what we think.
Imagine where you might get if you’re determined.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss