P.U.S.H-ing

Dr. Joan Collins-Ricketts

As I look back on my entire adult life, I realize that it’s not been an easy road for me. I’ve also come to realize that at my very core I’m not a quitter! Whenever life punches me in the gut, I may double over in pain but I refuse to roll over and die. I have followed the motto “never say die!” Another creed I’ve lived by is “quitting is not an option!” I would be lying if I said that in the midst of the storm although I’ve kept those creeds in front of me, that it wasn’t still a struggle.

Reading Robert’s piece “What Is a P.U.S.H-er” helped me put a name to how I’ve survived the many and still on going life challenges. Yes, I AM a P.U.S.H-er! I am a person who is at the very least TRYING to use my story, my stuff to heal. But for me P.U.S.H also means, Persist Until Something Happens. It may take longer than I’d like, but I’m P.U.S.H-ing anyhow!! How have I been P.U.S.H-ing; what does that entail for me? After experiencing the devastating loss of divorce, I chose to reinvent myself, going back to grad school and completing my Ph.D. in Family Therapy.

Although that five-year Ph.D. journey through the program, was often tiring and meant long days and many all-nighters, every time I thought it was too much, I would repeat my mantra, “quitting is not an option, and I refuse to pay back student loans for a degree I don’t have.” In addition to my personal creeds, prayer and scripture kept me P.U.S.H-ing. When professors tried to break me, I kept P.U.S.H-ing. When depression and loneliness enveloped me, I P.U.S.H-ed, prayed, and persisted.

P.U.S.H-ing isn’t easy to do. It takes energy that sometimes you don’t feel you have. But sometimes all it takes is putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes waking up, putting your feet on the floor, and walking forward is P.U.S.H-ing. Moving forward produces trajectory for THAT day, and as long as you P.U.S.H through that day you can make something happen. You’ve succeeded if you’re able to accomplish what you have for the day. Don’t think of what you didn’t get done. Don’t beat yourself up over what you’ve not checked off your to do list; simply get up tomorrow, put your feet on the floor, and move forward one foot in front of the other.

One of my favorite texts Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” If you’re not religious, find your own source of inspiration. Quotes such as: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not . . . Education will not . . . Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent (Calvin Coolidge), is a good start. Tom Hiddleston said: “You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.”

Keep P.U.S.H-ing!