My daughter said something this morning, that relates to this, that made me feel really proud of her. She recently graduated from college and she's working (among other jobs) as a personal trainer at one of the big gym chains in the area to pay off bills and save up for graduate school (she's going to get her doctorate in physical therapy). She was an heptathlete and hurdler in college and has her degree in nutrition so she's a good fit for someone wanting to lose weight.
She related this story to me...she was visiting her brother at his bartending job last night (also paying his way through college) and she was mentioning how one of her clients frequently responded to difficult tasks with "I can't do this" and would quit without trying. So she has to find ways to motivate her.
She said, "I just don't get that. At all. As long as I can remember whenever I tried something and it was really hard or impossible it just meant that I had to focus on that more...not less. Anything that was nearly impossible just went to the top of the 'must work on more' pile."
He brother replied, "I can't even imagine quitting something because I couldn't do it very well. It was OK to quit it...once you'd mastered it...or at least given it your best shot. But not till then."
It was a great 'Dad moment'. At least to my way of thinking. Of course, it's probably all due to their mother.
