Sisu!

Just in case i haven't mentioned it before i'm of Finnish descent. Well -- around 1/4 of me is anyway... the rest is German and English. My maiden name is Jarvie which comes from the Finnish name Jarvinen... i still use Jarvi (without the 'e') as my middle name. Because my mom is an only child and my dad is one of five children, we tended to be more connected with the Jarvie side of the family... thus the Finnish-American culture which included Sauna and SISU! 

Finns are very proud of - well, just being Finns!  Part of that pride is the natural-born characteristic of sisu.   I asked some Uncles & cousins on Facebook what the word sisu meant to them and here's some of what they said:
 Uncle Henry - "guts and intestinal fortitude"  
 Great Aunt Punk used to say it was just "plain guts!"
 Uncle Robert - "determination"  also he recalls a definition that said, 
   'lighthearted courage in the face of opposition that you have little chance of overcoming.'  
Kind of makes you go, hmmmmmm,  eh? 


By the way, did i mention that i've given up Facebook for Lent?  It's become far too addictive for me, so i figured this was a good time to give it a rest.... but that's another story!