Perseverance is an underappreciated virtue. It lacks the nobility of integrity, the sparkle of brilliance, the grace of generosity. But the beauty of perseverance is that, in time, it always makes up for that which it lacks.
Consider this example: I learned recently that one of my former students just finished her doctoral degree at the College of William & Mary. She started the process 14 years ago. Her tenacious determination to earn the degree involved surmounting numerous interruptions — false starts, several years abroad, retirements of faculty advisers, revised dissertation topics and the need to earn a living wage, among others. Upon learning that she had at last received her diploma, I told her she was an uplifting example of the virtues of persistence.
It is inspiring to see someone satisfy the unrelenting demands of aspiration. Doggedness can overcome many obstacles. President Calvin Coolidge once declared that "nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. ... Genius will not. ... Education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
I have always been impressed by the simple eloquence of perseverance and its remarkable resilience. My former student's good news prompted me to retrieve the letter of endorsement I wrote for her in 1988. In recommending her to the graduate admissions committee, I recognized that they would encounter students with greater native brilliance and accumulated knowledge, but, I predicted, they would never meet someone with such unbowed independence of mind, unbridled energy and gutsy fortitude. Her strenuous efforts have fulfilled my bold prediction.
There is a message here, something we are meant to notice, to learn from, to understand and to emulate. Nothing concentrates the mind or tests our character like a demanding goal — the desire to be something better than we are, to be the person that God means us to be. Personal growth requires personal struggle; perseverance keeps hope alive. Amid all the challenges and uncertainties of modern existence, and in the face of stern obstacles and enervating setbacks, we need to keep moving forward, however tempting it might be to give up and let go of our dreams. As Confucius once said, "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."
Yet perseverance is not simply constancy. Yes, we need to keep moving, but only if we are headed in the right direction. It does us no good to keep slogging into a quagmire. We must remember the difference between studied conviction and mindless stubbornness. Obstinacy lacks the grace and resilience of perseverance.
"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy," explained the magisterial 19th century minister Henry Ward Beecher, "is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't."
As we age, our aspirations become harder to define and more elusive. In the face of confusion and frustration, we find it tempting to quit or to settle for less. Our goals plummet; mediocrity becomes seductive. Likewise, we cringe at the chaos around us. We live in perilous times. Each day brings sobering news from abroad. Stability and security seem to have vanished. What should we do?
In 1941, at the height of the Battle of Britain, when Nazi firepower seemed overwhelming, Prime Minister Winston Churchill reminded Britons that surrender was not an option. "Never give in," he told a group of schoolchildren. "Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense."
Churchill's stirring words retain their force today. The inner passion of persistence, the indomitable emotional commitment to a worthy goal or an ennobling cause, is an empowering and liberating force. With the endurance buoyed by conviction, we hurdle adversity; without it we stumble. With it we discover the depths of our commitments; without it we tread water. With it we are undaunted; without it we succumb to fear and exhaustion.
As St. Paul urged the Galatians, "Let us not grow weary in well-doing; for in due course we shall reap, if we faint not." So persevere. Do not lose heart; do not be discouraged. Persistence is what we must have when we have nothing else. And, as President Coolidge recognized, persistence is omnipotent. Just ask my former student. But make sure to address her as "Doctor." After 14 years of sustained effort, she has earned the title — and much more. |
