Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything - James 1:4
PERSEVERANCE is a continued effort to do or achieve something in spite of difficulties, failure, or opposition. This virtue is applied on actions that will take a long time before being completed such as studying, working, and leading an organization. Perseverance is the element that keeps a person going when passion subsides, feelings are gone, or any motivation disappears. It’s the value that upholds us when things seem dry, dreary, and disappointing. Perseverance is a praiseworthy character of Filipinos. We don’t give up easily and we never lose hope. We always find ways to do things especially in difficult situations.
Here are some people who found success despite failures.
Colonel Sanders: The founder of KFC, who started his dream at age 65, and was rejected 1009 times, before receiving a one yes for his fried chicken recipe.
Walt Disney: He was turned down 302 times before he got financing and created Disney world.
Albert Einstein: He didn’t speak till he was four and didn’t read till he was seven. His parents and teachers thought he was mentally handicapped, but turned out to win a Nobel Prize and be the face of modern physics.
Thomas Edison: No list of success from failures would be complete without the man who gave us many inventions including the light bulb. He knew failure wouldn’t stop him. (Source: getbusylivingblog.com)
William Wilberforce: A great man who impacted the western world. He put evangelicalism on Britain’s map as a power for social change, first by overthrowing the slave trade almost single-handed and then by generating a stream of societies for doing good and reducing evil in public life. (J.I. Packer. www.wilberforceschool.org)
Behind all this success stories are failures, failures that had become stepping stones and not a hindrance in achieving their dreams. Tenacity played a vital role in their victory.
We are all like athletes who are going through hard training and strict discipline to win the price. Let us endure all things and fight the good fight of faith. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
It doesn’t matter how we start, we may go slowly or it may take us a long process, but don’t give up. What matters is how we finish our race, let us finish it strong because we know, every battle is winnable!