SISU, "the word that explains Finland"

 The New York Times has descibed sisu as "the most wonderful of all finnish words", as "the word that explains Finland". On January 8th, 1940, Time magazine reported: "The Finns have something they call sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win. The Finns translate sisu as "the Finnish spirit" but it is a much more gutful word than that."  

When you talk to a finnish person and ask to tell about Finland, you usually get to know that its freezing cold here and that finnish people have this thing called "sisu". Here is an explanation copied from wikipedia to give you declaration of what this word sisu actually means:

"Sisu is a Finnish term loosely translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. However, the word is widely considered to lack a proper translation into any language. Sisu has been described as being integral to understanding Finnish culture. The literal meaning is equivalent in English to "having guts", and the word derives from sisus, which means something inner or interior. However sisu is defined by a long-term element in it; it is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain an action against the odds. Deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision against repeated failures is sisu. It is similar to equanimity, except the forbearance of sisu has a grimmer quality of stress management than the latter. The noun sisu is related to the adjective sisukas, one having the quality of sisu." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu )

 Sisu with all the qualities behind it is part of our culture and understood to be part of all finnish people. Because we have sisu, we can put up with our long freezing winter time. Because we have sisu, we can work hard from morning till evening. Because we have sisu, we can stay strong and keep on going in spite of failures. Though finnish people have this special word for being persistent and indomitable, to have strong willpower it doesnt mean that other cultures and other people dont have that. 

      My friend told me a funny story. She had a lesson in high school about Finnish literature. Teacher was asking students to give examples of things that indentify finnish people, things that "makes us different from the others". "We are good in ice hockey", "we are quiet and shy", "we drink a lot of booze, hahahhaha", "we have sisu!", "we have national sports like eukonkanto(man carrying a women on his shoulder)" and the list went on.. My friend raised her hand and asked "But how all these things identifies all finns? Like has any of you actually tried out this sport called eukonkanto?" Teacher ignored her point and continued asking more examples. What my friend meant by asking this was that by making all these things spesific qualities to finnish people it automatically eliminates these qualities from other people. Winter sports (like ice hockey) are part of finnish culture mostly because there is snow, ice and long winter in Finland. There is also good ice hockey players in Russia and Sweden because these countries are located in the northern part of the world. Eukonkanto instead is one part of finnish culture but its not part of all finnish people. For example not all people in africa dance though dancing is a strong part of african culture. I personally havent been on ice skates since the age of sixteen, but have been dancing almost every day since childhood. 

      Interests, goals, the way of life are things that identifies us. What we do every day makes us who we are. Some chinese girl can have more similarities with one russian girl than with a chinese classmate. An american man can have his soulmate in Kenya. 

        What im sure about is that people all around the world have this spirit of staying strong in a difficult situations. All people have this quality called "sisu", maybe one person less than the other. Here is some pictures from my home country and a few from Uganda, some serious or funny moments where I think the spirit of sisu has been around. These situations or things might happen in any side of the world. Perhaps not traditionally nominated in any sisu-awards, but they typify how I see this mysterious word. Sisu is...

Being an excellent father day after another.

Sitting naked in a real wood-heated sauna at 80 to 100 degrees.

To have the courage to break the boundaries, enjoy life in its fullest.

To keep on dancing till 8 in the morning.

To face the fear and let your doughter go for an adventure.

To make it through the midsummer fest.

To be open-minded enough to start dancing as an adult man.

 To be a bartender who keeps on smiling after a long night with drunken customers.

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To make a commitment with someone.

To keep up the sisterhood no matter what.

To stay fishing for hours in spite of not getting any fish.

To face the crazy White Nile water by rafting.

To gratuate from high school with an excellent certificate.

To take part in a breakdance battle.

To stay best friends through good and bad times.

To take part in a dj-group competition where you have '10 against 100' -situation in call vote and beat the others anyway.

To do astanga yoga in a park at 4am .

To push the car out of the mud with all power you have.

To care and look after one an other.

To always be yourself.

And, to keep on smiling after good and bad days.

Smile and happiness, Niina