PERSIST
By Daphne Rose Kingma
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence
and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” –Wolfgang von Goethe
Persistence is the spiritual grace that allows you to continue to act with optimism even when you feel trapped in the pit of hell. It is the steadfast, continual, simple — and at times excruciatingly difficult — practice of trudging forward until the difficult present you’re scared will go on forever is replaced by a future that has a new color scheme.
Persistence isn’t fluffy or humor- ous (although it can benefit from frequent infusions of humor) or stupidly optimistic. Persistence is intention embodied, repeatedly, in action. It’s seeing something through, even when it seems like you’re not getting anywhere, because inside you know a solu- tion is coming toward you that is different from the present, and that when it arrives it will hold a cornucopia of new possibilities.
Somewhere in the distance, your future is holding out its arms to
meet you, ready to bring you whatever you’ve had the courage to ask for. It is already holding in trust whatever you have the courage to keep steadfastly mov- ing toward. It wants to join hands with you to create the next chap- ter of your life, but it won’t — it can’t — if you stay riveted to the same spot, whining and complain- ing, passive, fearful, and resentful. That’s because the future always comes toward us in exactly the spirit in which we approach it — hands and heart open, or souls withered in defeat.
When you decide to persist, it’s not because you’re an idiot, not because you don’t know from the inside or from looking around just how dire your current cir- cumstances are. It’s because in the face of perhaps thousands of reasons to be discouraged, you
“Persistence is the journey of
effectiveness that allows you to hope. It is the energy that wants to get things done, to assist you in moving from crisis to solution.”
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