To move forward, we have to have the mental and moral strength to resist opposition and keep gong when it gets hard. This is tenacity.
The determination to get where you want to go!
Ponder your resolve to complete what you set out to do in the face of extreme difficulty. Some might say it is the baby born from the love between passion and perseverance and is closely linked with grit. Grit is a trait that gives us the guts to overcome obstacles or challenges that we encounter on the path to accomplishment and serves as a driving force in realizing our dreams …. Grit is what keeps us going no matter what and our tenacity is where we get our how!
Tenacity has a built in flexibility and adaptability that combines things like perseverance, resilience, longing, grace, self control with a desire to accomplish. The flexibility and adaptability is our willingness to change when new information is received. Its not head down and keep moving as your force your way to your goal; it is the willingness to get back up, dust ourselves off, consider what happened, then tweak your approach as you start again. Tenacity requires a willingness to grow and personally develop.
Perseverance is the continuous “moving towards” something in spite of every obstacle, discouragement, disappointment or distraction. It is an internal strength to keep focused on where we are going regardless of what things look like right now!
Resilience is the strength we develop, born in adversity. It is a muscle that is grown when we overcome major trauma or significant changes in life. In a simple form, it is our ability to bounce back and eventually recover quicker.
Longing is the desire and determination to achieve whatever goals we have before us … It is yearning for something God has stirred in your heart. What dreams and desires does He have you working on?
Grace is the ability to work towards that God given desire knowing that we will stumble, falter and fail. It is acting on our faith, over fear, trusting that God will be with us and will help us back up. Grace is accepting the forgiveness God offers and having a clear understanding of our own limitations as we grow, learn and become who He calls us to be. Grace is the power He gives us to live in the Spirit.
Self-control is a fruit of the spirit that gives us the ability to be more than who we are! It is self control that lets us do what is right instead of what we want in the moment. It is how we pause and temper impulsive behavior. It is our ability to cherish and move forward when facing delayed vs instant gratification.
All of these elements determine our success … at some level we all have a need to achieve, to accomplish, and leave our mark on this world. With tenacity, anything is possible!
