What is Constancy of Purpose? It is maintaining a focus on your goal and your long term vision- NO MATTER WHAT. It’s falling and getting back up, it’s going around, under or through… it’s drive and desire that is unmatched by anything in your life. No Matter What…
And I say NO MATTER WHAT in a way that is non-negotiable.
Gerry Nelson has not had it easy. From a very young age he has had to overcome many difficult challenges and yet he has persisted through it all and maintained his focus and stayed on track with his vision…See, Gerry wanted to be a pro golfer.
Gerry’s story begins at the age of 6 when he was diagnosed with diabetes. Five years later he lost his mother to leukemia and at the age of 23, his father past away. Losing both parents would have been quite a challenge, however Gerry’s biggest challenge, the one that would completely change his life, would happen two years later. Resulting fron his diabetes, at the age of 25, Gerry lost his eyesight.
After he lost his sight, Gerry became connected with the United Way and took advantage of the programs that they have to offer the blind. With their help, he went back to school and got a degree in Social Work at Athabasca University. Gerry also started to golf again and in 1990, two years after he lost his sight, he began his career as a blind golfer.
Soon after he turned pro, his golf game took off. Gerry won the Western Canadian Championships five times, he is a two-time winner of the Provincial Championships and Gerry is also a former Canadian Open champion. “It’s not that we are super men or super women,” Gerry states, “we are just like everyone else, looking for a chance to display our potential and our abilities. All we ask is that we be given an opportunity.”
That’s keeping a focus on the goal, Even when you can’t physically SEE it…NO MATTER WHAT.
Life has not been kind to Violet Glaude. She was born into an abusive home, and when she was older, she entered into an abusive marriage. But Violet was able to break the vicious cycle of abuse and ended her marriage and moved herself and nine of her eleven children to Edmonton for a fresh start and a new life.
The family’s fresh start was not easy though. When Violet arrived in Edmonton, she was broke, illiterate, and unable to speak English. Despite these challenges, she was able to find a job and raised her children as a single parent. As her children grew older and finished high school, Violet encouraged them to obtain a post-secondary education. Violet’s illiteracy prevented her from helping her children when they encountered academic hardships, but she told her children what she must tell herself: “Don’t give up, no matter how hard it gets, don’t quit.” All of Violet’s children followed her mantra and all of her children were able to finish their post-secondary educations and move on to fulfilling careers.
That’s keeping a focus on the long term vision… NO MATTER WHAT.
And you don’t need a personal life struggle to reach deep and believe in that. All you need is a goal, a desire to be a part of this amazing and intricately complex puzzle of humanity–a desire to make an impact with your life.
With courage and determination, a Saskatoon man named Rocky Bishop personifies this idea in his pursuit to help the less fortunate. A registered nurse, Rocky was motivated by the Hurricane Katrina tragedy that swept through New Orleans. He was determined to travel to New Orleans to help out in any way he could.
Unfortunately, with many of the phone lines down, Rocky had trouble making contact with anyone in New Orleans. He searched online for contact numbers in phone books and talked to anyone he could to find a way to New Orleans.
Some of Rocky’s first calls were to search and rescue operations located in Portland, San Diego, and Minnesota. He didn’t have any luck getting answers. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Rocky made contact with the Department of Home and Health Safety in Washington DC. They gave him a contact number for Lonnie Wascom – the director for emergency services in the North Shore area. Lonnie was receiving dozens of messages every day, but that morning, the first message he listened to was from Rocky. After hearing Rocky’s message, Lonnie called and told him to book his flight right away.
Since then Rocky has been to New Orleans three times. The first time, in November, he went by himself. In January he took his 15-year-old daughter Melissa. He returned by himself this past June.
This is a story of a man with a goal. A goal to help others in need. A goal to make life better for himself and for those around him. Rocky never quit, and he has forever changed the lives of the people he helped in New Orleans.
These are all stories of Constancy of Purpose. And there are thousands more, each of us with our own. Some days are harder than others, of course. But you have to know what it is you are fighting for first before you can even know that you want to fight. SO…What is your purpose, your desire and passion in life. What gets you out of bed in the morning with the determination to leave a legacy? What is the fire in your gut that makes you go to the end and back of your emotional, physical and mental strength…
Really, what is yours? Find it and don’t let it go… NO MATTER WHAT.
Hurry up, the world is waiting for you…
It’s time to believe in that again.
