Gus' Toy Box

Here is an awesome excerpt from Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson:

I once knew a man who had come to this country after World War II as a displaced person. He had been a skilled cabinetmaker in his home country but after the war he had to settle for a job as sexton in a church. Not long after I became a pastor in that same church I also became a father. Toys began to accumulate around the house. Knowing of his dexterity with tools and lumber, I asked Gus if he would throw together a toy box for me when he had a few minutes. I wanted a storage bin for the toys; I knew Gus could do it in an hour or so. Weeks later he presented our family with a carefully designed and skillfully crafted toy box. My casual request had not been treated casually. All I had wanted was a box; what I got was a piece of furniture. I was pleased, but also embarrassed. I was embarrassed because what I thought would be done in an off hour
had taken many hours of work. I expressed my embarrassment. I laced my gratitude with apologies. His wife reproached me, "But you must understand that Gus is a cabinetmaker. He could never, as you say, 'throw' a box together. His pride would not permit it." That toy box has been in our family for over fifty years now and rebukes me whenever I am tempted to do hasty or shoddy work of any kind.

III. We Grind

I'm using grind as the verb form of grit, a term popularized by psychologist Angela Duckworth. After several years teaching middle school, Duckworth left teaching to study what characteristic most accurately predicted student performance. In a popular Ted talk, she reveals the answer is not social intelligence, good looks, physical health or even IQ; the answer is grit. Duckworth defines grit: "Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint." Here's the full video:

The definition of grind (grit) I've chosen to use is: "working longer without switching objectives;
hard work plus concentration."

For more on grit, there's a great article about Duckworth visiting Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks organization. For even more, check out her book Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance. I have not read it yet, but it comes highly recommended and it's on my list. 

Related to the topic, I came across this line in Eugene Peterson's Run with the Horses: "The mark of a certain kind of genius is the ability and energy to keep returning to the same task relentlessly, imaginatively, curiously, for a lifetime." Peterson made that statement in 1983 about the prophet Jeremiah. Grit may be a newly popularized term, but it's certainly not a new idea.