Pushing forward with determination
One of the gifts given to each of us is the free will to choose our path, despite and in spite of the existing situation we find ourselves in. When we develop the determination and the will to move beyond a situation —especially when this is one of pain and difficulty, or one of poverty — we exercise our capacity to stretch our Spirit’s capacity, and thus grow.
I think about this especially when I am faced with such polar opposites of examples. I know Susan (name changed) born of a very rich family. All the opportunities continue to be given to her: the best education, choice of a dream job, a future she can mold plus a position in society which she can use to advocate for so many other better things. We chat often as we are trying to build in her the will and determination to just let go her dependency on drugs. She knows she shouldn’t take drugs, but without thinking she just falls back into her decade-old habit she started when she was 13. So, despite the opportunities that flourish around her, she is unable to grasp them, ride the wave and take that decisive turn to a more positive and constructive life.
Then there is Cindy Baltar, a naïve 15-year-old girl wading through poverty amidst the densely populated neighborhood in
In such a dire situation, education is not an option and Cindy soon dropped out of school like any subservient daughter would do to make way for the family’s other pressing “priorities.” But Cindy refuses to let poverty stamp out her academic aspirations, much less rob her of the opportunity to make the most of her potential and perhaps provide her parents and grandmother the kind of life that fate deprived her of. She went out to look for a scholarship and found it.
Today, Cindy, dreaming to be an accountant, ponders the world with optimism as she and other 99 sophomores attend
These three students have pushed their will towards future goals that will make them get out of a situation they do not want to be in. “The experience taught me to be stronger, especially in the absence of my parents,” said Cindy. Robb, on the other hand, said, “This is a great opportunity for me to lead a better life than my parents. I don’t want my future family to experience what I went through.”
Choices to use our determination and will confront all of us daily. It may be as simple as trying a little harder to keep our diet and not giving in to that last piece of chocolate cake. It may be having to find that superhuman part in us to forgive one who has hurt us to the core. It may even be the will to get us out of our fear-filled zone where we fence sit our own issues and refuse to grow beyond our comfort zones. The will to go beyond, to succeed, to push forward is something we work on daily, moment to moment. At the end, it is not about the economic situations that matter, but the development of the will in each of us that determines the success we make of our life. It is the extra effort to want to better ourselves that separates the good from the great.
Through its partnership with Springboard Foundation and A Better Chance (ABC) Foundation, the Bosch Class 2010 Adopt-a-School Program aims to provide comprehensive education for incoming freshmen of
Robert Bosch Inc. is the local flagship company of Robert Bosch GmbH (