Winning Ways: The Most Important Word You’ll Learn This Week

Maybe you read about the South Korean woman who was just granted her driver’s license after 950 tries. Her tenacity has given new meaning to a popular Korean term: sajeonogi.

It’s the most important word you’ll learn this week. But first, the driver’s license story.

In September, the New York Times wrote about Cha Sa-soon, a 69 year old widow who lives in a remote village in South Korea. She wanted to learn to drive so she could take her grandkids to the zoo without relying on the bus system. But Ms. Cha had limited reading skills, having begun school at 15 only to drop out for lack of funds a few years later. So, her biggest obstacle was the 50-minute written test consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions. She failed this exam 949 times, at a cost of $5 for each try.

But she never gave up, and she’s the proud owner of a driver’s license today. She’s also the proud owner of a $17,000 car from the people of Hyundai, who feature her on prime-time commercials in Korea.

The NYT piece says she’s become the embodiment of sajeonogi—and that’s the most important word you’ll learn this week.

It’s a conflation of four words that capture a proverb on perseverance: Sa means four, Jeon means “to be knocked down,” Oh means “five” and Gi means “to rise.” So, sajeonogi means to rise five times when knocked down four times. The idiom became popular after Korean boxer Hong-Su-hwan won the 1977 super bantamweight championship by a knockout after being floored four times.

You’ll need a commitment to sajeonogi to leave your mark in this life.

Each Sunday in November we’re looking at what it takes to become a person of influence. The series is called “Leave Your Mark,” and it’s a look at Paul’s first missionary journey as recorded in Acts 13-14. It’s for parents and coaches and teachers and managers and civic leaders and anyone else who knows the importance of influence. You can catch up with the series on our website.

This Sunday we’ll discover that no one makes an impact on the lives of others without perseverance. Paul faced many setbacks in his efforts: a co-worker abandoned him, his health broke down, and he met with hot opposition. Still, he never gave up, and so “the word of the Lord spread through the whole region” (13:49).

Join us at 10 a.m. each Sunday morning in November for this important series!

_____________________________

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.