Tenacity

It was an emotional week for myriad reasons …

A couple of friends had losses of their own and my heart aches for them.

And you might have heard about what happened in Jonesboro. If not, some wonderfully written stories and features can be found here: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/previousfeatures/westmemphis3/

So work, which was so slow in the beginning of the week, certainly got more interesting at the end. And by interesting I mean completely exhausting and exhilarating.

Being in the news business is draining at times, especially when you put in 12-hour days (thankfully, that hasn’t happened in awhile for me). I think people in this industry are cut from a certain cloth, of a material that has yet to be engineered that is as strong as Kevlar, soft as silk and as adaptable as Harry’s invisibility cloak.

There is a passion for truth-seeking, for sharing information in a way that will get people thinking and for preserving the historical narrative. It’s an important job that takes guts, sometimes guile and always gumption. Oh, and tenacity. Definitely that.

We could all use some of it. It’s crucial in this news business. It’s crucial in this life.

To not get discouraged when it feels like the world is against you. When you are fighting the man. When you are down for the count for what seems like the 20 millionth time. When odds aren’t in your favor.

When multiple sclerosis sidelines you yet again, tenacity is what will pull you out of the rut and get you on to the next one.