NOW? During the Corona Virus? Are you joking? No, I’m not! Because perseverance means succeeding because you’re determined to, not because you’re entitled to. Achievers don’t sit back and wait for success because they think the world ‘owes them’. Ask God for direction, then go forward and refuse to quit. You must adopt the attitude of the man who said, “We are determined to win. We’ll fight them until hell freezes over, and if we have to, we’ll fight them on ice.”
Now, be relentless. It’s said that Columbus faced incredible difficulties while sailing west. He encountered storms, experienced hunger, deprivation and extreme discouragement. The crews of his three ships were near mutiny. But his account of the journey says the same thing over and over: “Today, we sailed on.” He didn’t drop anchor and wait for the storm to pass, he sailed. Today, is the day of ideas, and innovations, sail, work on them! And Columbus’s perseverance paid off.
Perseverance means you never quit: At a sales convention a manager said to his firm’s sales force, “Did the Wright brothers ever quit?” “No!” they responded. “Did Charles Lindberg ever quit?” “No!” they shouted. “Did Lance Armstrong ever quit?” “No!” they bellowed. “Did Thorndike ever quit?”
There was a long, confused silence. Then a salesperson shouted, “Who in the hell is Thorndike? Nobody’s ever heard of him.” The sales manager snapped back, “Of course you haven’t – that’s because he quit!” I remember a verse I learned on my grandmother’s knee, “Bob,” she used to say quoting from the scriptures, “We will reap a harvest if we do not give up!”
I remembered her, when I thought of my recently released book, DARE, which now lies gathering dust in bookshops, or in the godowns of courier companies, and I told myself I will still get it across to my readers. Then came an idea, and in a weeks time, God willing, DARE will come out as an e-book!
Perseverance means, you turn adversity into advancement. Just look back at every pitfall you’ve been through, every failure you’ve faced and you’ll see it’s all helped create a stronger, more resilient you. Adversity is a great opportunity to develop muscle, so go ahead, build strength today, don’t cry and complain. Perseverance means stopping not because you’re tired, but because the task is done. Robert Strauss once said, “Success is like wrestling a 1000-pound gorilla. You don’t quit when you are tired – you quit when the gorilla is tired.”
And finally, perseverance demands all that you have. It’s more than just trying or working hard: It’s binding yourself emotionally, intellectually, physically and spiritually to an idea, purpose or task until it has been completed. As author Judy Wardell Halliday said, “Dreams only become reality when we keep our commitments to them.” It’s worth it, DARE to Persevere at this Time..!
