One of my favorite actors, Hugo Weaving, playing the part of Agent Smith in Matrix says the famous words “There is no escaping reason, no denying purpose”  What is this purpose? Often, we tend to get frustrated when things don’t go the way we thought it would, when the most elaborately laid out plans collapse without as much as a tiny warning, yet the inspired people seem not to lose their idea of purpose while the lesser mortals give up. Back in my schooldays, we had a lesson in English about King Robert I of Scotland (Robert the Bruce).  and how he learned an invaluable lesson by observing a spider. After being beaten soundly by the English for six times in a row, the demoralized and disheartened king ran away and hid himself in a cave where he had an epiphany. He watched a spider weave its web, over and over again, refusing to get disappointed no matter how many times the frail web gave way. The spider kept laboring away and rested only after completing its mission and the king, who was watching this lesson unfold in front of his eyes, drank from it deeply. He knew that he had a mission. He had a purpose. He gathered his forces again  and with his new-found enthusiasm and spirit, was able to whip up a frenzy within his troops who fought with all their bravery against the English and secured a famous victory for Scotland.
Purpose is what can keep us in the hunt. No matter how many reversals of fortune dog us, if only we have belief in our goals and remember that we have a purpose, nothing can stop us.