GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION

I saw the picture on this article yesterday, for the first time. I had cause to really look at it again, this afternoon.

I see in this picture, a man with his lips pursed in intense concentration. His tongue is sticking out a bit too. He, obviously, is engrossed in what he's doing.
I see the glasses he's wearing to aid his sight. I see the eyes behind those glasses, intently focused on his task.
I see his task. And, what a task too!
I see his stubby nails with some stains on them and I see his calloused thumb. They point to the fact that he, most likely, works with his hands.
I am drawn again to his task.
In those hands, are a needle and a thread. His goal is to pass a thread through the eye of the needle. That's a mundane task, right? Not exactly so when you realize that his thread is lot bigger than the eye of his needle.

Stupid man, eh? A thick thread with a jagged end cannot possible go through that tiny needle!
Crazed lunatic? Oh, well, his eyes do seem a little bit glazed.
What could he even be thinking? Did he think that the needle and the thread would suddenly swap sizes?
How, ever, does he think he can succeed at this task? When every other person knows this is an impossible task!
Those might be our thoughts but they're definitely not his.

His glasses are not perched on the tip of his nose with his eyes, looking out from the top of them. They are positioned firmly on his face, on the bridge of his nose, just where his eyes need them to be.
This man doesn't want to lose sight of his vision.
This man knows that his eyes alone would definitely fail him.
He doesn't want the pretense of wearing a pair of glasses while not, actually, seeing through them.

His hands are used to doing hard work and this time is no different. He has got the thread twirled firmly around a finger. He doesn't want to lose grip of it.
The end of the thread is jagged, alright. That makes the task seem even more impossible, right?
I think not. His goal might just be to get only a few strands in. That jagged end would, therefore, be necessary to achieve that goal. Frankly, it's none of our business what his aim is. But, this man is giving it a go!

He's not grumbling about this task. He's concentrating. He's persisting. He has the courage to try.
He may find at the end of the day that he can't get even a few strands in.
But, even if that happens, I bet he would be satisfied. Because, he would be sure that he actually gave it his best.
And he just might find that his determination to beat the odds pays off in the end. Who knows?
Hey! Even a rat squeezes through a hole a lot tinier than it is, when running from danger. It may not, even, understand how it is able to do so but it, sure, tries and each time, it succeeds. Time and time again, it evades the angry owner of the house through that same hole.

This picture, I am not taking at face-value. To me, it is a symbol of strength of purpose, of persistence and of courage that defies the odds.
It is the symbol of a spirit that has, absolutely, refused to be beaten down by difficulties, real or imagined.
It tells a story of a determination to survive, no matter what the challenges are.
This picture reminds me of all I have to do that I have ignored for too long.
It reminds me that, no matter what, I MUST put in my best.
It reminds me that I should never lose sight of the vision even if my eyes glaze over from staring too long.
This picture is a story that tells me to try and get, at least, a few strands of the thread in.
It tells me to press on, no matter how daunting the task ahead of me seems.
It tells me to strike 'impossible' from my vocabulary and to say all the time, "I can!"
It tells me not to see problems with my eyes but with the eyes of the One who made me.

I can be the best in anything I put my mind to.
I can be the best wife, to my man, that I can possibly be.
I can be the best mother in the whole wide world, to my cuties.
Even when I am very weary of the race, I can press on and breast that tape.
I can drown out those voices that tell me that I can't, even if one of them is mine.
Yes, I can!!!! Giving up will never be an option anymore.

And, should I not succeed in the task, I would know, without a doubt, that I'm not a failure. That would only be because, I gave it my best shot.