Tenacity is Ugly Crying

This post was originally published on June 3, 2021, on Instagram as part of Her Growth Collective.

---

Tenacity is beautiful, but it isn’t pretty. Tenacity is ugly crying.

Tenacity only really comes into play when something is hard. When things are easy you don’t need tenacity. You might need time management, or accountability, or structure but you don’t really need tenacity.

Tenacity is reserved for the things we think we can’t do. The things that are so hard we wonder if they are even possible.

In my 20’s I was blessed to study in Uganda. During that trip, we visited Rwanda to go gorilla trekking at the Parc National des Volcans.

I’ve never been athletic. I was in decent shape in my 20’s but not athletically fit. When they had us self-select trail difficulty I knew my place. I promptly joined the group headed to the easy trail.

I don’t want to know what the hard trail was like. 😣

While the incline was more gradual on the “easy” trail we were still hiking up a mountain.

That hike taught me the real meaning of tenacity.

Within the first 30 minutes I was physically exhausted. Within 45 I couldn’t catch my breath. People were genuinely concerned for me and our educational director was offering to walk me back down to the lodge.

But there I was with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was not about to let it slip through my fingers.

Theoretically, I believed I could do hard things. It was time to prove it.

As our guide hacked back the jungle with his machete to clear a path for us to walk, I put one foot in front of another while the tears ran down my cheeks. I prayed for it to end, and I focused on breathing.

That’s what tenacity looks like. It’s hard, it’s painful, and it’s not fun. So why don’t we just take the pass?

Because we want to choose our hard. Life is hard no matter what, choosing our hard lets us unlock the reward waiting on the other side.

After what felt like forever we eventually found the Silverback troop in a small clearing. Mom and dad were having lunch and the kids were playing.

I tried to catch my breath and marveled at what I saw. We had to keep our distance to avoid spreading human germs to the gorillas, but as I regained my composure a few of the kids started playfully wrestling and tumbled down the mountain right over to me. I stepped back to give them their space. My face still beat red.

My reward that day is the certificate that I EARNED for hiking up the mountain. But more importantly, my reward that day was the self-respect gained from proving to myself that I can do hard things.

What is something incredibly hard that you were able to achieve through sheer tenacity? ...

This post is written in partnership with #HerGrowthCollective, encouraging women to walk the path of self-development together.