Determination is not so much a matter of action as of stillness. Such stability penetrates the surface of life and removes the bumps*
Plenty of words, but I'm not sure what they're trying to say. Trying to visualize the metaphor doesn't help much. Stability penetrating something? Penetration removing bumps?
Determination is perhaps related to how we perceive the benefits of perseverance in comparison to the effort required. If you decide to make a million dollars so that you can own a really big house, or two ordinary ones in Sydney, you might make progress, and discover that it's a lot of work. Then, you might decide that a more moderate house (not in Sydney, and with a mortgage) is quite nice, and buy that, and relax a bit. On the other hand, if you decide to make a million dollars to prove to yourself that you can do it, you might be much more inclined to persevere, depending on your personality. The difference is intrinsic motivation, as opposed to extrinsic motivation. That's one of the things I learnt from my calculus teacher at high school.
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* Reproduced by permission of the copyright-holder BK Publications, London, www.bkpublications.com
2 comments:
I can see how determination is an act of stillness; it's remaining settled on a goal, rather than jumping from one objective to another. The harder it is to achieve the goal the more determined you have to be to keep that as your goal. The reasons for having that as your goal will be different for different people, and it obviously pays to think carefully and question why you have that goal in the first place. Maybe the stillness and stability of character required to be determined about something can be partly used to reflect on the worth of your goal, and in turn this will help you to continue to persevere if it still seems worthwhile.
Ramble ramble ramble. Did that make sense?
Yes, it made sense to me. I suppose determination does rely on stillness in that sense.
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