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Friday, August 20, 2010

Word of the Day

Word of the Day: GUMPTION.

I was talking to a store owner somewhere in the middle of the Cascades...just one of a million random conversations to date on this journey. The conversation started on the topic of weather, when he said,"it's a beautiful day out there. Make sure you get out an enjoy the sunshine." And I replied, "for sure. I think I am going to go for a little bike ride." And he responded with, "where do you think you are going to ride? It's all up a mountain from here?" And so on and so forth with me describing that yes, I would be climbing that mountain and the next and the next heading East and ultimately crossing the country. At this point, most people respond with "wow" or "you're crazy" or "what inspired you to do that" or "you must be in great shape" (haha, I wish!) or "I couldn't spend that long on a bike seat (or something referring to saddle pains)." But this guy had a different response, catching me a bit off guard. He said: "Wow, you have a lot more gumption than the rest of us." hmmm, gumption. What a great word! Word of the day and word of the trip!

Gumption quotes:
1. "Anyone who has gumption knows what it is, and anyone who hasn't can never know what it is. So there is no need of defining it." --Lucy Maud Montgomery
2. "A person filled with gumption doesn't sit around dissipating and stewing about things. He's at the front of the train of his own awareness, watching to see what's up the track and meeting it when it comes. That's gumption." --Robert Pirsig

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