• Attributes and features that make up or distinguish an individual
• Main or essential nature
• Moral excellence and firmness
• Position, capacity, reputation
Personal success and personal failure may easily define true friendship for each of us. By the same token, personal determination can readily define true character.
Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.comWhen we are determined and relentless in our responses and actions throughout challenging and disabling times, or during victorious and triumphant situations; we may find that our individual character is strengthened and significantly and recognizably lifted, and can help propel us to continue moving onward and upward.
Likewise, if we cower or simply quit and give up; our character, position, capacity, and reputation can undoubtedly be hard hit and suffer lasting trauma that can only be triaged by a tremendous “character boost” of some kind.
External character boosts from outside sources might provide us with temporary salve to help heal emotional, professional, academic, or relational scars.
Yet, sometimes the impact of the wounds underneath those scars can be too intense, deeply embedded, and disabling to allow us to overcome or work around them.
We may then find that we can’t move forward without some type of internal “system” of personal determination kicking into gear.
Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.comEducators like Mary Catherine Swanson of California applied this notion in 1980 when she created and developed the now internationally recognized and implemented AVID (“Advancement Via Individual Determination”) college-readiness curriculum for high school students having difficulty moving beyond mid-range academic hurdles.
The curriculum is driven by the thought that individuals will become determined and self-motivated enough to chart and monitor their own levels of excellence and success when the right external and internal systems are in place to get them where they want and need to be. These achieved levels of excellence and success help define our character.
When we reach the point where we are determined to internally pivot our character to high levels; it’s more likely we’ll be able to maintain the self-determination and momentum needed to embrace a strong and distinguishable character and personal sense of self.
Sharon M. Biggs, M.A., is a wife, mother, and 21st Century educational leader who serves as Co-Chair & President of Lifeline Foundation, Inc. This 23-year educator is also Founder, Editor, and Chief Writer of LifelineExtensions.blog. View Sharon's other published works at http://www.examiner.com/.
Contact Sharon directly for more information: sharonbiggs@mylifelinefoundation.org
"Children are the globe's most precious commodity."
(Terence H. Biggs, Jr. ~ 2009)
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