Strength of Character

What makes one person more persistent than another?  What makes one person steadier in character than the next fellow?

I think it is partly genetics, partly how a person was raised, partly what a person reacts to situations and partly the breaks a person gets in life.  Some people never seem to catch a break no matter how hard the try.  The important thing is that the person keeps trying.  The life we lead is not easy for even the people who seem to have everything really don’t.   It’s quite true that money doesn’t buy happiness although it can buy peace of mind.

I think it is really difficult to rate anyone’s character except those close to you.  Impossible to really know how a public person is in character but even one’s closest friends and relatives may be difficult to gauge.  When I think about my own character I have a hard time analyzing myself from day to day.  How can I possibly truly understand someone else?

I think about what Emerson said about not being bound by what one thought two weeks ago or a year ago.  It seemed rather airy fairy and gratuitous but the more I think about it the more I realize that in certain respects we do flow with our ideas.  But when I talk about strength of character I really mean what a person stands for in the way of values and ethics.  Being stubborn does not mean that you have strength of character, it simply means you are being stubborn about something.  Strength of character means that you won’t be swayed by others, or circumstances, into doing something you really know is wrong.  Strength of character is being able to withstand the blows that come at you in life.  It doesn’t mean you cannot be hurt or be pained, of course you can, but in the end you will not cave into crushing despair forever.  Eventually you will bounce back and go on with your life.

Life is not easy nor is it fair.  Some of us get dealt a better hand, but the best hand of all is having that strength of character that will pull you through anything.