“Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before
which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into thin air.” – John Quincy
Adams
Magical Perseverance
I have known my friend Ron Hein for right at thirty years
now. So, when he called me a few weeks
ago asking me to help market a family property I was so glad. I knew we would be able to spend some good
personal time together. You see, we have
been in the throes of raising families and haven’t spent much time together as
a result. Now our lives are changing and
we are entering a new season.
Ron’s father recently passed away and he, along with his
siblings, were left with his home of many years to clean up and distribute. He invited me to walk through the house, along
with his brother and sister, so I could have an idea of what help they needed
to find a new owner. It was during this
meeting that I first got an idea as to the kind of resilience that life was
developing within Ron.
Since I work in sales I have often repeated the words of
Samuel Johnson during difficult transactions.
He said, “Great works are performed not by strength but by
perseverance.” I have learned over time
that few attributes correlate more directly with success than does
perseverance. It is also one of the
toughest characteristics to instill in oneself.
In fact, shrugging off failure and redoubling efforts takes perseverance. Picking oneself up off the ground to where
one has been knocked and taking another shot at the goal takes
perseverance. Resisting pain, sometimes
humiliation, too, and remaining stubbornly focused on the task takes enormous
reserves of perseverance.
So how do you increase your ability to persevere? The answers were revealed to me as I listened
to Ron recount his current situation. Two
of the most traumatic events life offers us are death of a loved one and
completing a real estate transaction. My
friend was in the middle of dealing with both at the same time! This experience has taught him to follow his
head rather than his heart or body.
Ron works full time every day and has spent nights, for
months, cleaning his father’s old home, making repairs and reclaiming the
yard. Through this period I can
guarantee you that his heart has urged him to spend his evenings relaxing with
family or friends. There have been
evenings when his body has urged him to climb into bed and go to sleep. And, each and every time he overcame one of
these urgings and adhered to his plan he increased his ability to
persevere! He was strengthening his
perseverance muscle.
I don’t know many people who get up each morning saying, “Oh
boy, I hope I can strengthen my perseverance muscle today!” Perhaps that’s why life comes with “seasons
of living;” each season brings with it new joys, new challenges and new growth
if we will simply see the opportunities and grasp them.
To get the most growth possible grasping means more than
just living though events. One must
internalize the challenge, embrace it and own the resulting growth. Only then can one be fully ready to move on
to new opportunities. Perseverance
naturally leads to resilience.
It is having the attribute of resilience that will allow you
to have deep joy and hope for the future.
It allows you to spring into your future with confidence and
anticipation. Have you looked into the
eyes of a two-year-old as she learns one skill and then follows her shinning
eyes with haste and vigor to her next lesson?
That’s what I wish for you! Look at the world through two-year-old eyes
and enjoy your life with delight!
