perseverance:
steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1).
we've been working with our daughter, lillie (5) on learning to read. she loves learning, but is stumbling upon reading a bit. we tell her that it is the Single Most Important thing she will ever learn. some days she loves it and whips through it - proud of herself and beaming all the while - and other days she doesn't even want to think about it. and i wonder - IS learning to read the most important thing she'll ever learn? maybe not...maybe perseverance is, for it will serve her well over a lifetime.
how do you teach perseverance? is it inherent within you, or a learned skill?
i ponder the meaning of and paths that perseverance has taken in my own life. again and again, the drive to persevere is the most critical aspect of living a life well. no life is without its ups and downs, its challenges. you look around and think that people have perfect lives, but in truth, no one does. every single person has enormous obstacles to deal with, in the course of their lives.
so how do you get through these issues, traumas, griefs?
for me, it has been perseverance.
when i was 18, i had a skateboarding accident and acquired a mobility-related disability in an instant. i had to learn to walk again - and going through physical therapy rehab (without painkillers, since i am allergic) was the hardest thing i'd had to do. add to that list a plethora of later surgeries, and learning to walk again (and again) after 2 ankle fusions, in such great pain - and i wonder how i found it in myself to keep going, to keep walking, learning, living life well despite such pain and difficulty.
years of persevering through higher education - with disabilities and life challenges and sojourns abroad - has made me a stronger (and more educated!) person. perseverance isn't easy - in fact, it is one of the most difficult things to do - yet what else *is* there to do? how else would you live?
having a child has changed my whole world - teaching me the value of patience, love, and yes, perseverance - perseverance in my beliefs in how to raise our child, perseverance in following an educational path for her (homeschooling) despite many obstacles.
i've depended on perseverance in creating a life of joy, living with grace and kindness, through thick and thin, through trauma and elation - that is winning!
do you have a story of extraordinary perseverance? please, share it here!
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)
Read more winning articles at winspirations.gather.com.
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Comments: 61
You are a remarkable woman and I admire you tremendously....you have what my grandmother used to say....sticktoitness.
I admire you Jessie. With all you've been through and then homeschooling too, but Lillie will be all the better for it. How lucky she really is, but then I'm quite sure she knows it.
My children were also brought up with the idea of 'stickability', too. For instance, if they wanted to give up an after-school activity, such as dance or a sport - they had to keep going until the end of the current session and then, if he/she still felt like abandoning the pursuit, then they could...
No instant results in this house!
I had to learn to persevere - I was far too impatient as a child. Luckily, one of my schools was a fantastic one, that taught me discipline, as well as plugging away at things in increments, until it was done.
do you think that perseverance and patience go hand-in-hand? it seems that way, in real life and in everyone's comments abt their own experiences.
My mother-in-law, who raised extremely bright kids, told me not to worry about when your kids start reading, that they all will do well when they're ready. I've been reading aloud to my boys since they were both in my belly so I backed off on worrying about when my first son would start reading after she said that, even though some of my friends' girls started real young. Then my oldest son just took off reading the summer after Kindergarten. I think it was because he had a large vocabulary from us reading to him regularly out loud. In the beginning of 2nd grade he started to read the Harry Potter books on his own. This last summer after third grade he was the first to finish book 7 of the Harry series when it came out, my mom finished after he did, then I finished the last book in the series. So anyway, your daughter will do great, too. But perseverance is the key. We just kept reading to our boys and still do.
as to your sons and reading - whoo!!!! something to strive towards! thank you!
thank you, kori. yes, even getting up and moving through the day is perseverance.
This article is also thoughtful and eloquent. I believe that one's perseverance can be greatly expanded by the encouragement one receives. I remember being so impressed by my daughter's Kindergarten teacher who was always telling the children "Good try! Soon you will be able to ... put your coat on by yourself, read a whole sentence, cut that piece of string, write your name. Soon you can ... Soon you will." She always gave them hope and encouragement that success was just around the corner. Soon! She was extremely powerful in motivating their perseverance.
I think the kind of beautiful comments you, Jessie, leave other people, help them persevere.
"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. " ~Henry Ward Beecher
I was interested in the quote at the end. As I read your article, I questioned myself as to what attribute had served me well in life. What came to mind was courage. Courage to go forward even when I was afraid or confused or didn't want to, but knew I must. It's not something I possess once and for all. It's something I have to muster over and over again. But courage because it demands choice has served me well and furthered me in my life's quest.
"For consciousness corresponds exactly to the living being's power of choice."
--From "Creative Evolution" by Henri Bergson
Sometimes the race goes not to who is the fastest, but who hangs in there the longest.
Help me get a publishing deal with a 10 rating and a comment. I comment back.
My generation has done an injustice by teaching the importance of self-esteem, without the additional teaching of pereseverence through failure. Now we have contributed to a generation inclined to give up too easily, thinking failure is not a necessary obstacle to success. Hats of to parents who understand the importance of perseverence.
BTW my parents tought me the value of this important virtue by making me mow our large corner lot with a push mower and shovel all the snow off the sidewalks of this huge lot, before I could go out and make money doing this for our neighbors, in order to have money to pay for my school clothes in the eith grade. Did I like that? heck no, but now at 65 I see it saved my life--once in Vietnam and another time in southern Illinois.
Good article and topic. Bill Cottringer
thanks, linda! your comment is so very kind and compassionate. thank you!
thanks, faith! i see a new icon pic? i'll scoot over and check it out.
april! fantastic quote. there are a lot of them to choose from, about perseverance. :)
thank you, barbara. you're right!
thank you, verie. i love your courageousness. it happens when it needs to, doesn't it? what a great quote, too. thanks!
bob - you've got perseverance in spades. and yes, the love and support sustains, doesn't it?
thanks, raymond. it is all about hanging in there. not only by our hands, but our whole Selves.
bill - yes, i think that it isn't taught now, as it should be. the helicopter parents & the millenium generation are scaring the heck out of me. i am so grateful for growing up on a farm, for knowing the value of hard work, for having animals depend on me. it prepared me, as it did you. thank you for sharing!
My answer would have to be that I get through issues and challenges with the help of a great sense of humor. Laughter sees me through almost everything that daunts me.
about lillie and reading...not to worry. a lot of research indicates that most kids are not ready to read until they are six and then they just take off.........your early work will pay off with her...
kathryn - yes, i remember reading that. she'll get it! i know that things will unfold as they need to, with her. thank you!
Sir Edmund Hillary
I remembered reading this several years ago...but it took me awhile to find it.
Blessings....having taught probably a thousand kids to read....have patience...it will come.
One day 15 years later I was in the coffee shop and saw this glowing, charming (did I say hot?) hot woman in a wheelchair. I lacked the courage to ask her out, but that was no problem. She asked me out and we were engaged 9 months later. We've been married 10 years and a month.
She works two jobs and is cherished by both employers.
-------------------
So, that is one story of perseverance.
I like that you say we all face challenges, because life is a very existential thing. If someone only faces relatively small challenges, those challenges are not small to them, but rather are the greatest struggles in their lives. I'm somewhere in the middle-to-lucky range when it comes to challenges, but the one thing I've learned about perseverence is to not dismiss small accomplishments. It's so easy to think what I did today didn't amount to much, so easy to not do something because the return might not be impressive. Little things add up in a very impressive way, as long as you keep 'em coming.
layla - thanks!
thank you, bob - i LOVE that quote. he's so awesome - WHAT an achievement!! thank you for your words! it WILL come. i know it. :) don't you feel great that you've taught thousands of kids to read? that is incredible!
cindy - yes, those physical battles sure teach lessons, don't they? thank you!
ron - GO JANIE! i am so glad you found each other - and that she has such amazing perseverance. and you're right - sometimes the small(ish) things take up so much more physical and mental energy and perseverance. thank you for your comments.
thank you, laurieann!
tristan - YES! great comments.
Reading is great, but PERSEVERANCE is it. There have been many, many wonderful non-reading cultures, and then there have been quite a few cultures that do read but are kind of rotten - lol.
So I'd say, along with Lama Milkweed and Buddha and Jesus and so many others, that PERSEVERANCE IN THE PRACTICE OF FORGIVENESS/ACCEPTANCE/UNCONDITIONAL LOVE/COURAGEOUS COMPASSION is the single most important thing we learn here. In fact, that's the way to graduate from Earth School. Wow, it's a tough curriculum!!!!!!
Your wisdom is beyond your years, my dear!