Determination

"Determination is the key ingredient to achieving one's goals." ~Mama Hen

There was a time that I thought that everything was within my reach. Everything! I was raised to be strong and determined by parents and grandparents who not only talked about it, but showed me through their endless perseverance. The past ten years has been quite a challenge for me. I have been sent one mountain to climb after another. There are times I feel as though I have lost a bit of my "determined" strength. When my Dad passed away twelve years ago I felt a rush of energy leave my existence. I have been trying to restore it since then. He was my rock and I miss him terribly as I climb each mountain. I know his spirit and strength live within my heart and soul and it is this knowledge that always helps me to push forward. These pictures carry that determined part of me that my father so diligently instilled.I can remember that day like it was yesterday. It was, in fact, twenty four years ago. I was at karate summer camp and some of the black belts were asked to break ice for the newspaper who had come to do an article. I was really scared. I had been doing karate for ten years at that point (since I was six years old) and had trained every day for years, but my insecurity of the unknown had gotten the best of me. The first time I went to break the ice I did not accomplish my goal. My hand, wrist and arm sent a pain shooting right through my body! My teacher yelled for me to do it again. The thought of my arm smashing against that ice again was nauseating. However, I did what was asked of me. Again it did not break. At that point I wanted to cry (I think I did) and my Dad's determination kicked in from deep inside of me. My teacher looked at my wrist and arm and said, "Enough!" and I told him I would not quit! So with a vengeance and a very blue swollen arm I shot through that ice with all that I had! It is moments like these that help remind us how strong we are within and without.