Persistence...

in the moments make a lifetime

The other day, I observed a small snail on the outside of my office window. He was near the bottom and he was aimed generally upward. I figured his trajectory, slow as it was, would eventually lead off the window. I wondered if he knew where he was going or heading to destinations unknown. He completed his trip off the window and onto the brick exterior before I finished the document that I was working on. Maybe because he didn’t stop for a coffee break or two. He persisted. Of course, we both finished our tasks of the moment, but his progress made me think about persistence.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men 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." — Calvin Coolidge

To think, once upon a time a flow of water began out west. Now we call it the Grand Canyon. About 45 years after I first learned to scrawl letters on paper with a pencil, I published my first book. Persisting in the moment leads to persistence over a lifetime. We cannot be discouraged by distractions or delays along the way. You can see progressions that you have made in your life; there are more to come.

I was a slow starter in things like learning how to ride a bike or jump rope. My mom patiently and lovingly reminded me that part of my makeup was, “No one will tell you when to learn something. Once you decide that you want to, nothing will stop you.” And so it was with learning to ride and to jump. I guess my inability to learn to play an instrument ultimately reveals that I haven’t decided that I really want to. It is an interest, not a desire. I haven’t shut the door though and a new guitar stands at the ready.

Life is a stream of opportunities to face challenges, grow and persist. We don’t know what the results of our persistence will be. The acorn persists to become a tree that provides food and housing for birds and squirrels, nutrition for plants with its dropped leaves, shade from the heat for all types of animals. It may die a quiet death by disease or lightning strike, or it may become the lumber used to build a home. Likewise, we persist for ultimate purposes unknown, with opportunities along the way when we decide whether to surrender or not. Do not. Persist.