There are some highly motivating and inspiring quotes that come up when one searches for Persistence on Google, especially the images section.
The dictionary meaning for “persistence” says, perseverance, tenacity, grit, consistency to keep going. Very inspiring and motivating and we all feel we should do exactly that.
Easier said than done, maybe the widespread opinion. But read this,
“We are made to persist….that’s how we find out who we are.” – Tobias Wolff
I believe this. Simply because that’s extremely evident in the stories of all the successful people in the world. We have been designed in a way that continuing a course of action in spite of the difficulties along the way is the only way to bring out the best in us.
We keep reading that Diamonds are just chunks of coal that never gave up. What makes one give up?
There is a story I had heard a few years ago about a deaf frog. Two frogs accidentally fall in a deep well. All the other frogs nearby gather around the well and start expressing their concern as the two frogs inside the well are trying hard to get out and keep jumping incessantly. Soon the other frogs start shouting that the well is too deep and jumping out may not be an option. One of the frog gets tired of jumping and gives up. The other frog continues jumping. The other frog inside the well and the ones outside keep telling him that it is futile, but he doesn’t listen. Finally, he jumps with all his strength and comes out of the well. Why did this frog not listen to anyone and continued his efforts? Because he was deaf and he couldn’t hear anyone. Well, ironically its a blessing in this frog’s case.
But most of us are not deaf and we keep listening to all these voices and opinions, sometimes its people around us but a lot of times it is also the negative thoughts generated by all the failures of our past experiences. Trust me, our inner voice is pushing us to have faith and be positive. But do we listen? No, the overpowering negative thoughts suppresses that inner voice. We get tired. Fear of failure grips us. And we give up.
Barack Obama once said in his speech in 2006, “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction. or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
Why do most of us shame ourselves into inaction ?
Here is another story that touched a nerve,
A well respected speaker began a seminar by showing an audience of 150 people a crisp $20 bill. He asked, “Who wants this $20 bill?”
All 150 people nodded.
He said, “I am going to give this money to someone, but first….” Then he proceeded to crumple the bill up. He asked the crowd again if anyone wanted it.
All 150 hands went up in the air.
The speaker then dropped the money on the floor and stomped all over it. He then raised it in the air to show the crowd. The money was filthy. “Does anyone want it now?”
Every hand went up.
The speaker proceeded to tell the crowd that no matter what he did to ruin the money, people still wanted it because its value remained the same. It was still worth $20.
Life often beats us up to the point where we feel inadequate. We deal with bad circumstances and make bad choices that we have to deal with later. However, no matter what we go through, our value will remain the same.
I would dispute the notion that our value remains the same. No! These experiences actually increases our vigour, our maturity, our capacity to handle pressures and hence gradually increases our value much more. That’s Life’s way of preparing us for the goal that we are meant to achieve, the purpose of our life. Arguably the only way of converting the chunks of charcoal to diamonds! And here we are, doubting our self worth!
Hence I believe that we have been designed to persist and unlock our true potential to actualize our purpose in life.
I would invite people reading this blog to give this a thought. Believe in yourself, realize your value and keep going forward to achieve all the goals that you have set for yourself. Its a path of Thinking Positive and Living Positive!