Perseverance
per·se·ver·ance
Carrying on through the long, discouraging middle, one small step at a time. Perseverance is love for where you're headed.
Another way of seeing it
A Japanese proverb says: fall down seven times, stand up eight. It doesn't promise you won't fall. It assumes you will, often. Perseverance isn't about never stumbling. It's the quiet, stubborn habit of rising one more time than you fall.
In relationships
Every long relationship goes through dry patches. Don't confuse a hard season with the end of the story. Keep showing up.
In the ordinary day
Pick the project you've stalled on and do the most boring part of it today. The middle only moves if you move.
A question to sit with
Are you on the wrong road, or just a long one?
Carry this with you
You're higher than you think.
Where it comes from
From the Latin perseverare, to continue strictly or persist. Its root severus means serious, steadfast.
Try this today
Stay with one hard thing a little longer than feels comfortable.
Journal prompts for Perseverance
- What difficulty have I come through that once felt impossible?
- What helps me keep going when it gets hard?
- Who has shown me what perseverance looks like?
Did this word resonate with you today?
Know someone who might need this word?