A definition of grit describes a person who embodies “courage and resolve; grit has direction and purpose but not necessarily goals.” For the entirety of my life I have witnessed grit in fellow humans. 

• The grit of babies who persevere through creeping, crawling, and find a way to walk. 

• The tenacity of teenagers to explore and experiment with forms of self expression. 

• The mettle of full time working adults who are “adulting” and pursuing continuing education. 

• The spunk and spirit in all of us to heal around a broken heart, recover from an injury, and as my mom is often heard saying find a way to “just keep going”. 

For me grit and gratitude are interdependent.  As I witness grit in others, my core being swells with gratitude that I am priveliged to exist along side fellow humans. This feeling of gratitude is similar to buoyancy, light, hope. These inner sensations feed my own resolve to trust in the work I am called to do.  The action itself yields more gratitude. Grit and gratitude are symbiotic.   

I am grateful for technology which allows me to be on a WhatsApp chat with the Kao Girls (pictured above). We ping each other for wisdom, support, and jokes. We banter about recipes. We send snap shots of daily life. I have to own that everyone has a more advanced emoji practice than I do.

Each one of the Kao girls in her own unique way of simply existing every day teaches me the potent power of gratitude and grit. I offer just two examples from the eldest and youngest of the adult Kao girls.

We just celebrated the birthdays of Rosann (my mom in Hong Kong, 81), and Riley (my niece in Texas, 27). As we’ve done since spring 2020, the 13 of us gather on zoom and tell stories. This particular zoom included demonstrations of Yodeling (new for us), there is always laughter, and we cheered for our birthday girls. The morning after the big family zoom, I chat with my mom on the phone, and she shares her delight in “simply getting to hear us all interacting.” It’s true, we talk with deep trust that we can share our truth no matter what, and lovingly tease each other.

Shortly before my mom’s 80 th birthday last fall I asked her to try out a writing project. She agreed, and this fall Rosann completed the first book of our family history. She committed to turning out one story a week for 52 weeks. The printed copy finally arrived last week. It felt fantastic to hold her book in my hands. The bound pages embody the efforts and discoveries my mom made through the course of a yearlong writing project.

All year I’d ask her how the book was going. I noted she most often commented, “I am grateful for the freedom to research, reflect, and write.” Each time I’ve pointed out her grit to commit and complete. She reminds me of the gratitude, and I see a formula evolving: grit + gratitude = grace.

Riley is in her final year of nursing school. Last month she joined our family zoom call just after a shift in the ER. We asked Riley to tell us about her experience balancing her full work and school load. She responded to the overall prompt with “it’s ok,” followed by a detailed description of a grisly open wound she worked on that night. I heard the dedication and delight in her voice as she spoke. Meanwhile her aunties all try to subdue their gagging reflex to the gory story. Since her early teen years, we’ve seen this desire to heal humans develop in Riley. It appears to grow stronger with each year.

Just yesterday when in conversation about the last few months of nursing school she told me, “I’m trying to stay gritty, I’ve got to save lives legally.” I chuckle at her practicality, I smile at her resolve, and I seed a new mantra in my own heart: “stay gritty”

On these super cold (it was 22F when woke up), late fall, early mornings I want to stay snuggled under the covers. To be honest, the desire to hide burrowed in the blanket is only partially due the cold. The other bigger part is an overwhelming sense of work and life’s responsibilities that feel like they pile up at the end of the year. Do you feel this too? It’s as if we’ve been walking, jogging, running through the course of the year and now we must sprint to the end! But the “stay gritty” calling pulls me out of bed onto my mat and I move. The movement brings warmth from within. I am grateful for the effects of my deepening breath, bringing clarity of mind, and a recommitted heart. I shall walk with a purpose all the way into the next year and beyond.

I invite you to consider what inspires grit and gratitude in you. I invite you to consider that without even knowing it, YOU, yes, YOUR everyday way of being, is grit and gratitude, and inspiration for another human.

Let’s celebrate each other being gritty, grateful, and glorious! Thank you for being on this wild ride of life. Thank you for your grit to get to this moment. I’m so very grateful be on the journey with you. Let’s keep going together.

December 2022