Determination

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book where the hero has the odds overwhelmingly in favor of his enemy yet he or she somehow manages to win the day in spite of this? There are thousands of them out there. Surely you have.

Often in these situations doing nothing means a life of sorrow and shame. Failure means death. But victory means getting out from under the thumb of tyranny or desolation. People know that the odds of them winning are so low as to be laughable but they follow the hero anyways. Why?

Because they can see a level of commitment within the hero that they find inspiring. He gives a rousing passion filled speech and they all become fired up and join him. His determination is a thing which can be felt by all who behold him. It is in the look in his eyes, the overall expression on his face. It is in his body posture, and within the tone of his voice.

Every ounce of his being screams out with determination to change the circumstance or to die in the attempt. This determination awes and inspires his followers. His words flow over them like a wave and fill them with that same level of determination until they are chomping at the bit to rush forward and meet the problem head on.

Whereas the oppressor what does he have? Often his forces are larger and better trained with better equipment. All of these things are important advantages. Yet in the end the hero's side wins out. Why?

Again the answer is determination. The hero and his men are fighting with all their heart and soul to simply see another day of life. The men on the other side are just fighting because their commander tells them to or if they happen to be mercenaries they fight for gold. No amount of experience or discipline can make up for heart and determination.

A man who fears for his cubs will fight like a lion. Take the battle of Thermopylae for example. There is some historical disagreement over the size of Xerxes army at the time. But whether his army numbered one million as the story goes or around one hundred and fifty thousand as historians claim, does not matter. In either case the Greeks were still outnumbered more than twenty to one. It is said that about a thousand Greeks died in that battle and over twenty thousand Persians died. That means that even outnumbered twenty to one, for every Greek that died twenty Persians died.

Going into that battle King Leonidas knew he and his men were not ever returning home alive. But still his men followed. Why? Determination. They were determined to keep Xerxes and his army from getting the opportunity to enslave their wives and children and to stall the Persians so the rest of the Greek army could retreat and so that their navy could win a decisive battle.

How different would your life be if you attacked all of your problems with the same level of determination that King Leonidas did?