In elementary school, I admired Abraham Lincoln more than anyone I studied. I loved the drawing in my 35-cent paperback biography, showing young Abe lying flat on his stomach in front of the fireplace in his log cabin, reading a book.
He didn’t have the advantages others had, but he had grit.
A Long-Time Hero
That girl in the 1950s dreamed of someday seeing the Lincoln Memorial in person. Finally, in 2017, I had my chance on a trip to DC with family. (Pictured are granddaughters Elayna and Sophie, 6 and 4, and I had a cast on my broken hand.)
Visiting the Lincoln Memorial was a dream come true for me. So last week, when I twice ran across the same famous Lincoln quote, I took note.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.” Since I had had a couple of years of feeling like I had gone backward in some areas of my life, his quote caught my attention.
A Man with True Grit
I knew enough about Lincoln’s life to know he’d overcome many failures and setbacks, yet he still claimed that he never walked backward. Really? Look at the many times Lincoln failed along the way to becoming our 16th President of the United States.
- 1831: lost his job
- 1832: defeated in run for legislature
- 1833: failed in business
- 1835: sweetheart died
- 1836: had nervous breakdown
- 1838: defeated in run for House Speaker
- 1843: defeated in run for congressional nomination
- 1848: lost a re-nomination
- 1849: rejected for land officer position
- 1854: defeated in run for U.S. Senate
- 1856 defeated in run for nomination for U.S. vice president
- 1858: defeated again in run for U.S. Senate
- 1860: elected 16th U.S. President
How could Lincoln claim he never “walked backward”? Obviously, he did NOT mean that he never experienced setbacks. With every failure, he fell back and regrouped, studied the situation, and relentlessly moved forward again.
I’ve lived long enough to have experienced many setbacks of my own: in my health, in my writing career, in key relationships. But my many “Honest Abe” momentoes in my office remind me that it doesn’t matter how slow progress is at times. It’s only important that you and I (like Abe) refuse to walk backwards.