John Langan - The Power of Determination: Fourteen Stories

The Power of Determination tells the stories of fourteen people who carry the following belief in their hearts:

I have taken charge of my life. I am determined to do what is needed to grow and succeed in life. I will let nothing stop me. In the face of obstacles, I will persist. When I get knocked down, Ill get back up.
I believe in the words of the late fighter Muhammad Ali: I hated every minute of training, but I said, Dont quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

All the stories in this collection are about people with commitment, determination, and resolve. All of them remind me of an influential English teacher I had during my senior year in high school:

Mr. Gery started his first class with us by placing on the front desk a large mound of clay and, next to it, a rock about the size of a tennis ball. That got our attention quickly, and the class quieted down and waited for him to talk.

He looked at us and smiled and said, If there were a pill I could give you that would help you succeed, and help you want to succeed, I would pass it out right now. But there is no magic pill. Everything is up to you.

Then Mr. Gery held up his fist and kind of shook it at us. Some of us looked at each other. Whats going on? we all thought. He continued: Id like you to imagine something for me. Imagine that my fist is the real worldnot the sheltered world of this school, but the real world. Imagine that my fist is everything that can happen to you out in the real world.

Then he pointed down to the ball of clay and also the rock. He said, Now imagine that youre either this lump of clay or youre the rock. Got that? He smiled at us, and we waited to see what he was going to do.

He went on, Lets say youre this ball of clay, and youre just sitting around minding your own business, and then, out of nowhere, heres what happens. He made a fist again, and he smashed his fist into the ball of clay, which quickly turned into a half-flattened lump.

He looked at us, still smiling. If the real world comes along and takes a swing at you, youre likely to get squashed. And you know what, the real world will come along and take a swing at you. Youre going to take some heavy hits. Maybe you already have taken some heavy hits. Chances are that there are more down the road. So if you dont want to get squashed, youre better off if youre not a piece of clay.

Now lets say youre the rock, and the real world comes along and takes a swing at you. What will happen if I smash my fist into this rock? The answer was obvious. Nothing would happen to the rock. It would take the blow and not be changed.

He continued, So what would you like to be, people, the clay or the rock? And whats my point? What am I trying to say to you?

Someone raised a hand and said, We should all be rocks. Its bad news to be clay. And some of us laughed, though a bit uneasily.

He went on, You know I cant be a fairy godmother. I cant pull out a wand and say, Thanks for wanting to be a rock. I hereby wave my wand and make you a rock. Thats not the way life works. The only way to become a rock is to go out and make yourself a rock.

Imagine youre a fighter getting ready for a match. You go to the gym, and maybe when you start, your whole body is flab, and its soft like the clay. To make your body hard like a rock, youve got to train.

Now if you want to train and become hard like the rock, I can help you. I can help you learn the skills you need to acquire knowledge. But you know, Im just a trainer. I cant make you be a fighter.

All I can do is tell you that you need to make yourself a fighter. Dont spend your time just being Mr. Cool Man or Ms. Designer Clothes or Most Popular Person. BE SOMEONE!

He then smashed that wad of clay one more time, and the thud of his fist broke the silence and then created more silence. He sure had our total attention.

At the end of the semester, some of you are going to leave here, and youre still going to be clay. Youre going to be the kind of person that life can smush around. But some of you are going to be rocks. I want you to be a rock. Go for it. And when this comesand he held up his fistyoull be ready.

As the semester unfolded, when someone would not hand in a paper and make a lame excuse, he would respond, Whatever you say, Mr. Clay. Or if someone would forget a book, or not study for a test, or not do a reading assignment, he would say, Of course, Ms. Clay.

Mr. Gery worked us very hard, but he was not a mean person. We all knew he was a kind man who wanted us to become strong. It was obvious he wanted us to do well. By the end of the semester, he had to call very few of us Mr. or Ms. Clay.

Along with the advice of Mr. Gery, I want to share with you the following seven thoughts. Read and think about them and see if they speak to anything in your soul.

Several years ago, my wife and I were vacationing in New Mexico. As we drove into one small town, we suddenly came upon a huge billboard. I was so struck by what it said that I stopped our car and wrote down the words.

You need to have a dream within youa belief and resolve in your heart that you will take charge of your life and make yourself proud.

Take a minute to think about this question: Which would you rather besomeone who wins a million dollars or someone whos earned a million dollars? Of course, wed all like to wake up one morning and learn that weve just won a million dollars. But lets face it: this isnt very likely. So if youre realistic, chances are you would choose to be the person who worked hard, overcame obstacles, and achieved success. If so, your attitude might be: Im going to work hard to succeed. At this stage in my life, that may mean doing well in school because education can be clearly a key to success. And if youve made mistakes in the past (and many of us have), your attitude should be: I can change my behavior. Im going to learn to work hard so I can get somewhere and be someone.

Think about your own attitude toward learning. Put a check by the item or items that apply to you. (If you agree with some sentences in an item but not others, cross out the ones you do not agree with.)

____ School has never really turned me on. I feel I can start to study if I need to, but I dont want to. Whats wrong with being a bit lazy? Life is supposed to be about enjoying yourself and having some fun. I want to take it easy and have as much good time as I can for now.

____ I suppose I am passive about studying, but its not all my fault. Im tired of being told what to do. Im tired of being force-fed what other people think I need to learn. A lot of the stuff is not going to be of any value to me as far as I can see. I cant wait to get out of school and be on my own so I can start living my life.

____ If I study too much, Ill miss out on the good times that school has to offer. I wont have time to go to games or parties. And I dont want to be alone. If I start studying, some of my friends are going to think twice about hanging out with me.

____ I want to do more in school, but Im afraid of really giving it a good effort. What if I try my best and I still get lousy grades? People will just laugh at me. I dont want to look foolish, so Im probably just going to drift along and not call any attention to myself.

____ I guess Ive just been out of it for a long time. There are probably lots of reasons why. I never got any encouragement along the way. I pretty much just let things happen to me. I feel like a piece of driftwood thats been tossed about on a stormy sea. I do want to do something and to become someone. Ive felt like this for a while, and at times I really want to get serious. But so far I just havent done so.