Saturday 30 May 2009

Perseverence

We rest here while we can, but we hear the ocean calling in our dreams, And we know by the morning, the wind will fill our sails to test the seams. The calm is on the water and part of us would linger by the shore. For ships are safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for. — Song "Ships" by Tom Kimmel & Michael Lille
Life is like an ocean which is sometimes calm and inviting and sometimes rough and menacing. And we are ships sailing along. As long as the waters are calm, we have nothing to worry about - no fears, no anxieties, no stress. We just sail with the wind and enjoy the voyage. But very often, we have to sail against the wind and even fight against huge waves. Otherwise the ship will sink and we'll drown. When we first begin working toward a goal, we are filled with passion, fire and excitement. We feel invincible and we just know that we can accomplish whatever we desire. We take off running toward our goal, determined to make it happen, and we know we CAN make it happen. Then we begin to encounter some obstacles. We may struggle through a few of them, but then we begin making excuses for not working on our goals. Perhaps we lose interest and get overwhelmed with daily activities. Before we know it, our goal has been placed on the "back burner" and we are no longer working toward it. Worse, maybe we no longer believe that we CAN make our dreams a reality. What happened? In my own experience, there are four key ingredients to making your dreams come true: perseverence, tenacity, courage, persistence. One of the best ways to get through difficulties is to simply persevere day by day. Huge projects don't seem as daunting when we focus on one element ... completing that before we tackle the next phase. As Napoleon Hill said, "Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I like your blog!
You must be a Vista user!

Gal Friday said...

It must have taken a heck of a lot of perserverance to build the steps to the church on that rocky outcropping (in your blog's main photo)!
I still need to develop a little more tenacity and perserverance in my character--never a strong point with me. *sigh*

Anastasia Marou said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katie said...

One may possess virtues like honesty, piety, sincerity etc, but without perseverance he cannot make use of any one of those. Everybody should remember the moral – “Try and try again, until success is yours”. And finally, perseverance and hoping for the best are the two important factors for success. It is not easy also to nurture these virtues in oneself. No doubt, it is difficult.

Anastasia Marou said...

History is full of extraordinary people who reached their goals by never giving up. For example, I read that Thomas Edison initially believed it would only take him a few weeks to invent the commercial electric light bulb. The reality: It took him more than two years. The expression "Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration" came from Edison, and truer words were never spoken. He never gave up, and in so doing, created this world-altering and illuminating invention. I believe that we are the architects of our own future in so far as we endeavour to make our dreams come true. Definitely, perseverance makes success!

Lisa A said...

Never give up, thats what I think because we are learning a lot from our failures and mistakes. If we give up we will never have success. If we dont we can use our bad experience to create something good and something positive.

Olga said...

There were many times in my life that I had to give up something because I didn't have the money to go ahead or because I thought it was a wise thing to do. So sometimes it is a waste of time to persevere...

Anonymous said...

am glad i visited your page today. thank u for these words of wisdom, constantinos. each of us needs to be reminded once in awhile of things that truly matters most in life. to keep going.

have a great day. *hug*

summer

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I feel very disappointed and I dont have enough tenacity to achieve my goals. And I tend to agree with Olga. Sometimes there are factors beyond our own determination which prevent us from making our dreams come true.

Reader Wil said...

Well that's an interesting post! It's more or less psychology, a subject that interests me! Thanks for sharing!

Stefania said...

A couple of years ago, I announced to my family my intention to go back to school and take up an online course aiming at a Master Degree in Law. Most of my friends and family discouraged me. I was too old to go back to school, I had a great job so why want more? Or...you forgot most of your English or what a terrible loss of money! The only friend who supported me was Anastasia. She offered to give me intensive online lessons in English at her spare time at the weekends. And she didn't charge anything! I also had a lot of perseverence and was determined to succeed. I followed the online courses for 2 years and then did the exams at the British Council. Finally, I got my Master's degree and a promotion in my job. The irony is that all those people who had discouraged me now appreciate the extra money and the rise in status! Perseverence and determination bring success.

Lucy said...

When I was younger - in my early twenties - I felt like you describe : invincible. I thought the world belonged to me and that there was nothing I couldn't achieve if I wanted to. Now in my late forties, I have learnt to set more realistic goals which I'm more likely to attain. My failures helped me to improve the quality of my life both personally and professionally - even though there were times I lacked courage and perseverance.