The Art of Determination and Perseverance

By: Aleena Arasseril

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Determination and perseverance are vital aspects of our lives and without them, it’s often tempting to choose the easier path and to give up. With everything that’s going on around us, this characteristic of perseverance drives us forward and helps keep our eyes on the individual goals we desire to achieve in our lives. Personally, I am a person who can get easily overwhelmed with life at times, and I know for a fact that if it weren’t for my maternal grandfather, I would have chosen the easier way many years ago.

When I was five, I, along with my sister had to stay at our mother’s house with her parents since our parents were leaving for New Zealand. Although in my five-year-old brain I completely despised the idea of staying away from my parents, looking back now, I can see how much impact this one-year period had on me and my character development. This impact is clearly evident in my character as I become more and more exposed to the realities of life and the struggles that accompany it and I can proudly say that because of the direct influence my grandfather's life had on me, I can endure through everything that life throws at me.

My grandfather had been actively involved in my life for as long I could remember, and I had always viewed him as a strong person who never trembled at anything, no matter what came in his way. For many years, I thought this strength was due to the lack of issues or problems he faced but as years went by, I realized how my perception of things was completely opposite of the ongoing reality. My grandfather faced a lot in his life, especially since he had been the main person involved in relocating his huge family from southern Kerala (a state in India) to northern Kerala. The responsibility of creating a new life from scratch and getting everyone settled in was a lot to endure through, especially for a 25-year-old. However, even when my grandmother explained the stories of their relocation, never did she ever mention a moment in which she saw my grandfather tremble or struggle.

Thinking about it now, I am sure he went through many moments when he did in fact struggle but his strength arose from the determination and his ability to persevere through the tough times. He would always tell me the importance of fighting hard for our goals, and how we should never become overwhelmed by the obstacles that stand in between us and our ambitions. Life offered him many chances to take the easier option and he was never required to put in the effort that he did into each and everything he did, but he did it anyway because he was strongly determined to strive for his goals.

Although I could never even possibly compare the extreme struggles he had faced to my rather smaller struggles, I still believe that he is the sole reason behind my determination and perseverance. Seeing him handle life so easily despite the many problems life burdened him with made me grateful for the comparatively easy and tolerable struggles that I face. It’s now been almost three years since my grandfather passed, but I strongly believe that a part of him will always remain alive in me through the gift of perseverance and determination that I’ve acquired from him.