Great things are accomplished by Perseverance

Let me share the story of “Perfect Circle”. One day a small boy was playing near the river when he saw an old man with a long white beard seated in the sand. The boy moved closer and watched as the old man drew a perfect circle?? in the sand. “Hey, old man, how did you draw such a perfect circle???” asked the boy. The old man looked at the boy and said, “I don't know, I just tried, and tried again… here, you try.”

The old man handed the stick to the boy and walked away. The boy began drawing circles in the sand. At first his circles came out too wide, or too long, or too crooked. But as time went by, the circles began to look better and better. Voila!!! He kept trying then, one bright summer morning, he drew a perfect circle in the sand. Then he heard a small voice behind him. “Hey, old man, how did you draw such a perfect circle?” The story aptly describes that perseverance can help you achieve your goal.

Anyone who accomplished anything can attest to this! Perseverance is what separates success and failure. I wish there was a secret formula or some shortcut, but there really isn't. Hard work and determination are what will get you through obstacles and onto the path you so desire! Within every setback or what we perceive as obstacle or challenge is the seed of an equal or greater advantage or benefit. You need to think through your challenges and find opportunity therein. You are most likely to find your utmost breakthrough therein. Keep it simple, pray, work hard and be full of faith. I see you flourishing well!

All life is a faith-based activity. Education is a faith-based investment in the future. Farming and gardening is an investment for a possible future. Having a kid is a faith-based investment in the future. A career change is a faith-based investment in the future. All of these are strategic, calculated risks. The limits of utilitarian calculation mean that life is all faith-based. A well known and verified philosophical problem that anyone with a high school or college education should understand. One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to get this. Everything you did today from eating food that you didn’t make yourself to whatever you thought would entertain you or make your life better.

You used your time and resources for a desired end. What desired end did you pick? Which desired ends did you ignore or de-prioritize? What means did you use? What means did you ignore or de-prioritize? How much emphasis did you get each activity? All of these are grounded in strategic inference and intuition on your part. It’s inescapable. It’s baked into existence. It’s baked into the day to day experience of being human.

Perseverance is the value or character trait that allows us to keep on keeping on. It is an inner strength that helps us ignore or discount obstacles and keep striving towards our goals or along a chosen path. It is what we need to overcome setbacks, adversity and criticism. Perseverance has to be learned and developed by experience. Our ability to persevere at a given task, quest or journey can be improved incrementally. If we have succeeded at persevering to accomplish a relatively simple goal, we will find our ability to persevere at a higher level the next time we are called on to use it. It is closely aligned with but different from, resilience and determination. To accomplish big things in life, we need to develop all three. Cheers!