per·se·ver·ance
[pur-suh-veer-uhns] Show IPAnoun
1.
steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2.
I have done posts about perseverance before, I think. I don't know why but for some reason tonight, I felt the need to write about it again.
One of my favorite things to watch on TV is biographies. My very favorite ones are where people struggle for a long time and finally make it. I am not a fan of the people who just found themselves famous one day. Like, if they were to do a bio on Snooki I would not watch it. I watch these bios, on Tom Hanks, Valeri Bertonelli, and tonight it was Jeff Dunham (you know, the guy with the puppets?) and I just can't help but realize the secret of life. Of course, God is the secret of life. But I mean, the OTHER secret of life.
Life is hard. For most people. I don't think life is hard for everyone. I believe that life is hard for most people. For some, life is absolutely impossible. But for most people, life is just hard. For Jason and I, life has been hard. I am not saying it's hard because of horrible things that always happen to you. Life is hard most of the time because of choices we make. Sometimes, we make bad choices, sometimes we don't know we are making bad choices, sometimes, bad choices find us. But either way, life is hard. The hardest part is not the STUFF that happens. It's getting PAST the stuff that happens.
This is called perserverance. And I think perserverance is the secret of life. When things look dire, when life seems lost, when things seem impossible, it's finding a way to keep on going.
The reason I love watching bios of successful people, especially in show business, is because I think they are the definition of perserverance. If you look at the above definition, it says, "steady persistance in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc." When I watch Tom Hanks' bio, he knew that he wanted to be a successful actor. He followed his dream. It was hard, it wasn't always good, but years (and years) later he made it. In a BIG way. In a way he never even dreamed of. Because he followed his heart. I love these stories. It gives me hope that if I just get up, if I just keep going, if I just keep following my heart, things will work out.
I am not in a bad place at all right now. In fact, for the first time in a very long time, I feel like we are finally making headway and positioning ourselves in careers that will fulfill our hearts. But that doesn't mean it's easy. And what we know better now that I don't think we knew three years ago, or even a year ago, is that life is never easy. You never truly "make it." There will always be another obstacle after the one you just made it through. I think God does that on purpose. It's those times of tribulation, times of struggle, that truly define who we are and help make us into the person we are supposed to be.
I think perserverance is the most important trait one can have. Without a doubt. Not sure if you were going through something and this post helped you, which I certainly hope it did. Just "never never never give up,"
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