Estimated Reading Time 5 Minutes
Hey You! Welcome back to The Vibrant Life Podcast. I’m Emily Romrell and I hope you’re having a lovely week. January is always a fickle month, don’t you think? At least in Utah, the weather is unpredictable. You never know if you’re going to get a snowstorm or a sunny day. And there’s always a lot of expectations and emotions that seem to resurface at the beginning of the year. I’m sort of weird and I tend to be an introspective person all the time, but I do find myself evaluating my life more during this time of year.
So how are you, my friends? We’re basically two years give or take into life with Covid 19 and the pandemic. It’s been rough for all of us, hasn’t it? And just in the last couple of weeks, the numbers have been surging again and things are sliding back into a quasi lock-down mode. And if you’re like me, when hard times drag on for an extended period, it’s easy to become depressed or discouraged.
To be honest, my last week has been challenging. I got taken out with a bad case of the flu, not Covid or Omicron thankfully. But I got a personal reminder that the original flu is still out there and ready to do battle as well. I did spend two hours in the Covid testing line on Monday and phew that is a hassle. My heart goes out to all of you who have tested positive or who have family members who are ill. It’s rough. Then there are all of the other life struggles we all have to deal with.
So this week, I personally needed a reminder, and maybe we all do, to never give up. That is the one lesson in life above all others that makes the difference, right? Shakespeare expounded on this in Hamlet’s famous “To Be Or Not To Be” soliloquy. Babe Ruth commented that “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” And history is crammed with famous figures who will tell you that the secret to success is simply moving forward and trying again just one more time.
One of the most famous people in the last hundred years who knew all about this principle was Winston Churchill. He was the prime minister of England during World War II, one of the darkest periods humanity has experienced. And although he was far from perfect, his efforts played a huge role in overcoming those dark times.
There is a well-known story that’s often used in motivational scenarios about Churchill when he visited his old school to hear some traditional songs and give a speech. The legend goes that the prime minister stood up, offered the words, “Never, never, never give up.” And promptly sat back down again giving perhaps the shortest speech ever recorded.
I did a little research on this and I was fascinated to discover that although Churchill did give an inspiring speech that day, it wasn’t just those few words, and he actually said, “Don’t give in.” rather than “Don’t give up.” It doesn’t really matter though. That story and that image has been strongly imprinted into the collective mind of society. And if you look at the life story of Winston Churchill, you find a very complicated man, but absolutely one who never gave up.
I personally found that I have a lot in common with the former prime minister of England. For one thing, we were both completely accident-prone growing up. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve walked into a door or a pole, or tripped on a sidewalk curb, or simply tripped over my own two feet. I’ve had more sprained ankles and bumps and bruises than I can count. It’s become a bit of a joke in my family that when I fall down I’ve had another “Emily moment.”
And young Winston also had similar struggles. I learned from History.com that As a youth, Churchill once suffered a concussion and ruptured a kidney while playfully throwing himself off a bridge. Later on, he nearly drowned in a Swiss lake, fell several times from horses, dislocated his shoulder while disembarking from a ship in India, crashed a plane while learning to fly and was hit by a car when he looked the wrong way to cross New York’s Fifth Avenue. None of these incidents left him debilitated. He lived until age 90 before finally succumbing to a stroke. So we know physical setbacks didn’t keep him down.
We also know that Winston had a long history of mental illness. He named his depression his “black dog” and his doctor diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. He went through many long bouts of illness where he was unproductive and couldn’t eat, get out of bed, or find joy in any of his wide-ranging interests.
Side note: it’s often helpful to give our challenges a name, and I love that Churchill named his. And although I’m not bipolar, I’ve battled depression and anxiety and I know how black things can sometimes seem. But we also learn a lot about how Winston Churchill dealt with his demons.
Every human heart is creative in its own way, and I think there is healing to be found in creativity. I believe Churchill recognized this too. He was a talented painter and produced over 500 works in his lifetime. He was also a successful writer. He wrote 43 book-length works in 72 volumes mostly biographies and non-fiction. And in 1953, he won The Nobel Prize for Literature. The award was said to be given to him “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.”
He also had a sense of humor. When he was asked what he thought about the grammar rule that you should never end a sentence with a preposition, he replied, “That is nonsense, up with which I shall not put.”
I also love to write and paint and be creative. I really resonate with a lot of the things Winston Churchill went through and how he coped with his trials in life. Even during the war, he made some major mistakes but he continued to move forward and bounced back in big ways.
Like all of us, Churchill was human and flawed. He was a heavy smoker and drinker. He had outdated views on women and held some racist beliefs. I’m not excusing these faults, but I also try not to judge too harshly. In the politically correct world that we live in today, people are often very quick to become offended or to shine a light on a person’s shortcomings rather than their victories. All I know is, you usually find what you look for and I try to look for the good.
But I do know that Winston Churchill was someone who never gave up. He did very poorly in school, yet he persisted in his studies and became one of the most respected leaders in the world. He struggled with a speech impediment and gave some of the most inspiring speeches in history. He knew how to turn downfalls into triumphs. I hope I can take some lessons from his example and implement them into my own life. I hope you can too. Then we can all move forward together and never, never, never give up.
Have a great week everybody. Live The Vibrant Life.
