Perseverance Means Never Giving Up

Perseverance Means Never Giving Up

 

“I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain,

not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth I will apply ALL my efforts to

become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it

cries for mercy.”

—Og Mandino

“How many individuals do only what they have to, just to get to the

next day? Their workday is basically performing tasks they are told to

do and no more. They treat work like some form of punishment, just to

survive till that clock hits five o’clock, telling them that they can rush

out the door and race home. Not once do they act as if the company

they are working for is theirs. Many workers today have little pride in

their work. I see it many times throughout my day and in my travels.

Maybe this is because they have no real goal to get ahead or rise above

the average workers around them. Maybe they have no long-term goals,

no intense, burning desire with regard to the work they are involved in.

Or maybe they dislike their line of work, just tolerating it in exchange

for a paycheck.

I observe many people that are being well paid to work all day, yet I

see them loafing. It’s as if they are impatiently waiting to go home. They

are cheating their employer, themselves, their families, and, above all,

their God. Just another wasted day, being unproductive.

Martin Luther King said it best: “If a man is called to be a street

sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or

Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should

sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven and earth will pause to

say here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Make every minute of your life count. Make believe that tomorrow

you will cease to be productive any longer, but rather will ponder

your life. Will you be proud or disappointed? You have the ability to

drastically change that picture. Remember: This is the first day of the

rest of your new and exciting life. Embrace, cherish, and celebrate the

special gift of that one day.

 

“A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out

to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his

thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly

object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he

should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set

before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, not allowing his

thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings.

This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even

if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must

until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the

30 An All-Consuming Desire to Succeed

measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future

power and triumph”.

—James Allen

 

“It is amazing to me how many people just naturally take to following

other people. It is as if it is easier to follow along than to travel their own

road. This morning this “following the follower” came to mind when I

saw a flock of birds.

Nature has a way of preserving animals, birds, and other forms of

life. We see elephants, seals, penguins, birds, and the ape family. There

is the leader who makes choices as to where to seek water, food, and

shelter. The leader also moves the flock or herd to safer territory or

different climates.

 

This morning I studied a large flock of blackbirds flying in precision

formation as they swooped from one lawn to another. They were

eating either some of the grass seed or some bugs on the ground. But

what was amazing was that, as soon as the leader decided to fly away

from a particular lawn, the entire flock followed rapidly, wherever the

leader flew.

 

I find that many people are like that. Maybe it is bred into us from

nature or instinct alone, but many of us would like to merely follow

rather than lead the way.”

C-2005 JOHN PAUL CARINCI from the book An All Consuming Desire To Succeed