Anyone who has fished salmon runs in a river (that would be me in Alaska) can really appreciate the meaning of intense dedication to a life goal.
You see, millions of salmon enter the river to spawn, but very few make it. Before they even get to the river, they have to evade natural predators like whales, sharks, seals and commercial fisherman. If they get past that they then have to deals with set-netters, gill-netters, dip netters, line fishermen and bears — all while swimming upstream against strong currents.
All the salmon I ever caught got my complete respect. They were on a one-track mission to get to the lake, and I had abruptly ended their life’s journey so I could feed my family.