Tony Williamson Tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance proven character; and proven character, hope.
- The Holy Bible, Romans 5:3-5.
TIME MAGAZINE in a recent article commented on the quality of success that enables a man or woman to persist despite the odds; to fall and rise again, to outlast failure and to end in victory. The writer said, "What ultimately defines us is not what happens to us, but how we deal with what happens to us."
If you are ever to be a success, to beoutstanding in your field, you must be persistent. Jack Canfield put it this way: "Persistence is probably the single most common quality of high achievers. They simply refuse to give up. The longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that something will happen in your favour. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist, the more likely your success."
Never-say-die spirit
Persistency of purpose is power. Dogged determination determines destiny. True greatness always embodies a never-say-die spirit, the unflappable and stoic determination to see failure as only another opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Persistence is all-powerful. It was Napoleon Hill who wrote, "There may be no heroic connotation to the word 'persistence', but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel."
Do you sometimes feel like giving up when they bypass you yet again for that promotion, when your grades keep falling below what is required, when your marriage is on the rocks, your children are causing you sleepless nights, your husband cannot quit drinking, and all around you seems to be coming apart? Do you feel like quitting? Well, don't, for a winner never quits and a quitter never wins.
Life will always be a challenge. You are not alone in the difficulties you face, the disappointments you experience, the failures, the foibles, the weaknesses. We all face these things, for life is a curious amalgam of the bitter and the sweet, a union of adversity and opportunity, a valley of tears and a mountain of joy. The universe is a confluence of great balancing antagonists, of inherent tensions between good and evil, day and night, feast and famine. These are not the important things. What is important is your attitude, how you respond to these outcomes, how you endure tribulation.
There has never been a successful or famous person who has never known failure or has not had to overcome staggering odds. John Milton wrote Paradise Lost while totally blind. Beethoven composed his greatest music while totally deaf. And being sightless did not prevent Ray Charles from achieving greatness.
After years of battering around, searching for meaningful employment which he could not find, a man called Albert Einstein wrote his seminal theory of relativity while working as a clerk in a patent office. It took Noah Webster 36 years to complete Webster's Dictionary and it is said that Ernest Hemmingway reviewed the manuscript for The Old Man and the Sea 80 times before submitting it for publication.
Disney story
This man loved drawing comic strips as a boy, but as a young man he was advised by an editor in Kansas City to give up drawing. Kicked out, he walked the streets. He kept knocking on doors. He persevered until finally a church hired him to draw publicity material. He worked out of a little garage and had for his only company a little mouse he befriended. He drew a sketch of this mouse and called him Mickey. His name? Walt Disney, and his rodent friend, Mickey Mouse. When he approached the bank about doing a project with Mickey Mouse, they threw him out, laughing him to scorn. But in 1931, with a nervous breakdown, rejections and setbacks, Disney persisted with his dream. The rest is history.
Never give up! Never!
Tony Williamson is a motivational speaker and author. Email tonywilliamson_57@yahoo.com.
