About Fortitude

What do you think about when you hear the word "fortitude"?  To me it conjures up the spartan heavy infantry phalanx.  This is an old battle formation.  The spartan warriors would stand 8 men across and 4 men deep.  Each man defending the man next to him with his shield, and depending on the man on his other side for defense.  These men stood together and died together.  A single weakspot would break the formation.  1 man not holding his own would mean the death of all 32 men in the formation.
In January of 1982 the Air Force Thunderbird precision flying team suffered a tremendous loss.  1 plane went down, and so did the other three.  They are so trained on each other that they flew in formation and crashed in formation.

So what does the word "fortitude" conjure up in my mind? The concept of fortitude is a little difficult for me to explain, as it means a great deal to me.  Ironically enough i found the best description of what this concept means to me from Rocky Balboa "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

So fortitude means 2 things to me.  Strength and determination.  You need both to have fortitude.  The Spartans had both.  They had spent their lives from the moment they were born til the day they died training their bodies to be strong.  They had determination.  They understood that protecting the man next to them was the key to going home alive from another battle, thus they were very determined to protect that man.

I often watch the old kung fu movies and find myself wishing i could move to some old mountain in China or Japan so that i could devote my life to training and become this amazing person that people would want to make movies about, and write books about.  During my contemplations on fortitude i realized that i don't have to go to a mountain village in China to gain fortitude.  I don't need a cranky old kung fu teacher to beat me senseless and make me do chores all day amidst my kung fu training.

I have strength.  My strength comes from the fact that each day i do things that i may not enjoy, or just plain don't want to do.  Every day i do something that needs to be done i am strengthened.  I can look my family in the eye with honor because i am holding to my obligations.

I have determination.  My determination comes from my family.  I need them and they need me.  We are our own little Spartan Phalanx; although, there is only 4 of us not 32.  (not sure what i'd do with 30 kids.  haha)  I depend on my wife and daughters.  I know they depend on me as well.  Without them i am nothing.  We will stand and fight together, or we will all crash together.

Do i have enough strength and determination to stand the test of time?  That is the ultimate question here.  Unfortunately the only way to test one's fortitude is to continually attack it.  Fortitude, like any other trait, is useless if it isn't being used.  I know this about my own fortitude: As long as there are those defending me with their shield i will have the fortitude to defend others.  I will not fail those depending on me, nor will i allow them to fail me.  In this my fortitude is strengthened by them, and theirs by me.

What is your source of strength?  Where do you get determination?  Who is defended by your shield?  Who defends you with their shield?