True Grit

Francisco was delighted to discover that an old newspaper from my hometown (which also had, it appears, state-wide and nation-wide editions back in its prime) was called The Grit. He claims that grit is an identifying feature of my state, my family, and myself (not to mention his grandmother, who is quite a lady, and lives alone in her home at 97, with declining eyesight and hearing). It's not something I thought much about till he pointed it out: I have always paid attention to (one of) the meanings of my name, which is courage, and tried to embody that. (Although I suspect it's not any traditional name meaning, but something made up to be inspirational.)

But now that he's pointed it out, grit is something I'm quite proud of. It includes, I think, the ability to endure uncomfortable situations (in my case, to save money)--as is evidenced by my choice of the $11 6:45 a.m. megabus ticket I purchased the other month, which entailed getting up before 5, over the much later and more comfortable $70 amtrak ticket, which I still ended up needing to buy in addition to the bus ticket, since my bus was two hours late. It is evidenced by the ability to persist in applications through frequent rejection, something I think I've shown to the point of embarrassment.

However, I would say that courage seems to be more noble and honorable and a bigger deal than a little bit of grit. Let's hope they're not mutually exclusive.