Grandma Maja like many immigrants had many times of her life that required her to take the initiative and gumption and move on as a way to advance and make progress. It took special heaping amounts of gumption to take charge of her life when her young husband fell at her feet suffering a fatal heart attack. A young widow with three youngsters to tend she was alone facing the Great Depression. She had to find the inner strength to move on forward.
What is gumption?
According to online dictionary:
If you have gumption, you have guts. People with gumption are determined and full of courage — and common sense, too. If you easily give up, and don’t have a lot of confidence or smarts, then you are lacking in gumption. It takes gumption to get things done — especially difficult things.
What impressed me most about my grandmother was the bounce back power she had after being knocked down. After being knocked down it was the gumption and grit that clicked in as she decided to move on. After a period of grieving and adjusting figuring things out, Maja decided it was time to move on..and somehow she did! The story of her comeback resilience is impressive. She was tough and resourceful. Please read Maja’s book for learning about her roller coaster ride like life of ups and downs.
Maja’s story connects with personal experience. In 1999 I began working with a high school athlete who suffered a catastrophic football injury that left him near totally paralyzed. After a period of psychological adjustment he had to face the tough question deciding with his attitude how he planned to move on.
Moving on took extraordinary gumption as he could do ver little for himself. He was almost totally dependent. My role was to be his friend to offer encouragement and find ways to boost his grit and resilient attitude.
He taught me many many lessons that relate to Grandma Maja’s gumption. Together with that first student and several others I wrote a book that describes how they managed to move on.Unbreakable Resilience: Leap of Faith Stories to Live By – Eight Survivor Athletes Piecing Together the Grace and Blessings of an Imperfect Life
Maja's Blessings 