I love inspirational and edifying stories. I enjoy perusing or listening to courage-effusing anecdotes. Such stories and anecdotes remind all of us that practically all things are possible in life, if we are willing to believe in ourselves. Throughout the annals of humankind, people have had to traverse the paths of adversity and implausibility to achieve one salient goal or another – and the trend continues up to now. A perusal of the story below should give us the courage to never become capitulators, in spite of the adversities and progress-stultifying situations that we may be facing in life today.

I am quite certain that a driver’s license is issued in Ghana today only after an applicant has passed a driving test, but the situation was quite different just two decades ago. In the United States of America, for instance, to obtain a driver’s license involves the successful completion of a rigorous two-part examination: the written test and the road test. First, the applicant must take a written examination in a local motor licensing office (states – and localities – are responsible for promulgating and enforcing their own driving and traffic rules). Second, the applicant must take a road test: a driving lesson in a roadworthy automobile, with an employee of the local licensing office as the applicant’s only passenger! Until this two-part process is successfully completed, getting behind the wheel of an automobile is nothing but a dangerous and imprudent exercise that could land the offender in jail!

It is also true that many people either take part one of the licensing test more than once, part two of the licensing test more than once, or both parts of the licensing test more than once. If taking the test twice or thrice is aggravating for some, then the story below should inspire the reader to never give up in life.

The Associated Press (2009) reported on November 9, 2009, that a Seoul-domiciled South Korean woman had taken the written part of that city’s driver’s license test almost every day for nearly 4 years before eventually recording a pass, just days before the story would make headlines around the globe. In fact, Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written test – with the minimum or obligatory passing score of 60, out of 100 – after taking the test a staggering 950 times! Talk about insanity of a heavenly kind! Talk about a brutish determination to never capitulate in the face of adversity! Talk about a relentlessness that many otherwise resolute people can only conjure up! But not Cha Sa-soon. If there is a lesson to learn about fortitude, here is one for all of us.

And, by the way, Cha Sa-soon still cannot drive in Seoul: she is yet to take the road test, the second part of the examination. Cha Sa-soon, while inundated with phone calls from several astounded reporters, would only say that she needed her own license, in order to effectively carry out her “vegetable-selling business” (The Associated Press).

Perhaps, the doctor has declared your medical condition as hopeless – but never give up until other opinions and options are sought. There is an important element called hope, and until hope is gone, the spirit will always thrive inside. And when the spirit has that tenacity to go on, the mind will encourage the body to never give up. Yes, life is not interminable, but one does not have to perish too early either.

Perhaps, you have always wondered if you could go back to school to pursue that ostensibly elusive college degree that has stultified your advancement in the workplace. It is never too late to achieve the goal of higher education. While in graduate school a few years ago, I had a classmate who was in his 60s and had children who were also in college! If you lack the resources to return to school to start or complete that degree that you so badly desire, seek financial assistance from reputable organizations. There are many organizations out there that will offer a lending hand, perhaps in exchange for your services when you graduate.

Perhaps, marriage is your goal but no one has proposed all these years. Do not give up. Keep hope alive and make yourself available – in church, at conferences, at the mall, and at other safe places. Have an open mind, jettison all the stereotypes you imbibed about other tribes or racial groups over the years, and be willing to take some reasonable risks for love. Some men like assertive women. Some women like men who are imbued with reticence. Many of us prefer qualities that are neither quixotic nor fatalistic. Rules about love and romance are not etched in stone, so we may have to show some flexibility and tolerance to be successful in our pursuits of love. Cha Sa-soon has demonstrated that any realistic goal is realizable in life, so do not give up on your dreams!

The writer, Daniel K. Pryce, holds a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University, U.S.A. He is a member of the national honor society for public affairs and administration in the U.S.A. He can be reached at dpryce@cox.net.