Persistence

Continuing on when things are tough and it all seems to be pushing against you is persistence.

Persistence is one of my favorite qualities.  I always try to encourage my students to be persistent.  It isn't the fastest or the smartest or the most talented who wins in the end, it is the most persistent.  They kept moving when everything started to hurt.  They kept working when it didn't seem that there was an answer.  They kept trying when it seemed they would never succeed.

The persistent know what it feels like to overcome.  They know that when the worst happens, they will make it in the end.  Persistent people experience the worst of life just as much as other people.  They experience failure, defeat, loss, pain, short-comings and weariness, but they keep going even if only one baby step at a time.  All that experience is simply another reminder that this current set back is only a set back and in the end they will succeed.

In the end they will persist and finish the race and be satisfied.