{"id":39506,"date":"2024-11-14T19:04:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T03:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39506"},"modified":"2024-11-15T02:48:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T10:48:50","slug":"grit-vs-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/grit-vs-survival\/","title":{"rendered":"Grit vs. Survival"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live among people whose resilience and resourcefulness are extraordinary, and I am amazed and humbled by what they produce and repurpose daily with limited resources. Whether navigating crowded market stalls, constructing buildings with only buckets and concrete blocks, or commuting in taxis, rickshaws, on donkeys, or by foot, one thing is unmistakable: life here is relentlessly hard. Yet each day, people return to their market stalls, build homes brick by brick under the unyielding sun, and wait patiently for transport along uneven, dusty roads. Their lives are shaped by a need to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Angela Duckworth\u2019s central idea in Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance<\/em> is that true grit involves a combination of sustained passion and perseverance, both directed toward achieving a long-term goal.[1]<\/a> Duckworth emphasizes that passion isn\u2019t fleeting enthusiasm but a lasting, devoted commitment to something deeply significant. She writes, \u201cWhat I mean by passion is not just that you have something you care about. What I mean is that you care about that same ultimate goal in an abiding, loyal, steady way.\u201d[2]<\/a> As for perseverance, Duckworth describes it as resilience and hard work paired with profound clarity of purpose. Those who embody grit \u201cnot only had determination, they had direction.\u201d[3]<\/a> Reflecting on Duckworth\u2019s ideas, I wondered, \u201cDo I live in a \u2018gritty\u2019 country?\u201d And more importantly, \u201cWhat is the distinction between grit and survival?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After nearly four years in North Africa, I have observed an imbalance in the psychological assets Duckworth identifies as foundational to grit. These include interest, practice, purpose, and hope.[4]<\/a> <\/span>While interest and practice are evident here, purpose and hope are often missing, particularly hope. Duckworth writes, \u201cGrit depends on a different kind of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is different from I resolve to make tomorrow better. The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up<\/span> again.\u201d[5]<\/span><\/a> Yet, this kind of hope, directed toward a clear, future-oriented goal, is hard to sustain in the face of extreme hardship and limited resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my host country, survival often resembles grit, but it is more reactive and focused on addressing immediate hardships rather than striving toward long-term goals. People here face daily struggles, and their perseverance is aimed at managing the present, not advancing beyond it. While resilience may echo elements of grit, it lacks the forward-looking drive that characterizes true grit, as it does not prioritize purpose or hope. <\/span><\/p>\n

Duckworth references the research of psychologist Martin Seligman and his ideas surrounding hopelessness (or learned helplessness). His work in The Hope\u00a0<\/em>Circuit\u00a0<\/em>argues<\/span> that hope enables people to overcome challenges and learn from adversity, emphasizing the power of agency and future-oriented thinking. Seligman\u00a0highlights how cultivating hope and optimism can improve well-being, success, and a meaningful life. [6]<\/a><\/a> He suggests people in\u00a0survival mode may feel that their actions have no lasting impact, leading to resignation and a loss of initiative. [7]<\/a> In North Africa, survival is the daily reality, and hopelessness often binds people to the present, trapping them in resignation and limiting their ability to pursue meaningful change and growth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, Stuti Shukla, in her Harvard Educational Review<\/em> article on Duckworth\u2019s Grit<\/em>, raises an important question: \u201cCan grit emerge in the context of poverty, and can it outweigh its impact?\u201d[8]<\/a> This question resonates deeply with the lived reality in my host country, where hardship shapes nearly every aspect of daily life. According to the United Nations Development Program, 58.4% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty[9]<\/a>, and an additional 12.3% are vulnerable to it.[10]<\/a> This pervasive poverty affects not only the material conditions of life but also the psychological capacity to envision and work toward a future. In such an environment, the psychological assets Duckworth describes are often hindered.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

While survival is crucial, true grit goes beyond merely enduring the present; it requires hope, purpose, and a future-oriented mindset. Fortunately, psychological assets are not innate traits but skills that can be developed. As Duckworth argues, “You can learn to discover, develop, and deepen your interests. You can acquire the habit of discipline. You can cultivate a sense of purpose and meaning. And you can teach yourself to hope.”[11]<\/a> This ability to cultivate these qualities opens the door to personal growth and lasting change. It is my prayer for my host country that they break free from the chains of hopelessness and awaken their full potential, driven by purpose and hope, toward lasting change.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance<\/em> (New York: Scribner, 2016), 56, Kindle Edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, 64.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 8.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 92.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, 169<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Martin Seligman, The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist\u2019s Journey from Helplessness to Optimism<\/em> (New York: PublicAffairs, 2018), Kindle Edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Martin Seligman, The Hope Circuit, <\/em>Kindle Edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Stuti Shukla, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” Harvard Educational Review<\/em> 87, no. 4 (2017): 588-92.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> The multidimensional poverty measure is an index that measures the percentage of households in a country deprived along three dimensions \u2013monetary poverty, education, and essential infrastructure services \u2013 to capture a complete picture of poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> World Bank, “Multidimensional Poverty Measure,” The World Bank<\/em>, accessed March 26, 2024, https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/topic\/poverty\/brief\/multidimensional-poverty-measure<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Angela Duckworth, Grit<\/em>, 92, Kindle Edition.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I live among people whose resilience and resourcefulness are extraordinary, and I am amazed and humbled by what they produce and repurpose daily with limited resources. Whether navigating crowded market stalls, constructing buildings with only buckets and concrete blocks, or commuting in taxis, rickshaws, on donkeys, or by foot, one thing is unmistakable: life here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3324,2967],"class_list":["post-39506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-duckworth","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39506"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39528,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39506\/revisions\/39528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}