Perseverance

Written by Matthew Needham

Perseverance is a quality that is innate to humans. Even small children often keep at a task until they accomplish the goal that they set out to accomplish. This quality should be exercised by an individual to its fullest in order that someday, when needed, that perseverance can be harnessed to fulfil even the hardest challenge one is presented with. Many times, in a working environment a craftsman can settle into a groove of complacency and begin to find shortcuts to hard problems or even be tempted to pass them off to others because perseverance takes a conscious amount of effort, however one may find great personal reward and accomplishment by simply refusing to quit until the day is over or the job is done.

Many could quote various sayings of Thomas Edison regarding his various projects—his most famous being a perfect example of perseverance: “I never once failed at making a light bulb. I just found out ninety-nine ways not to make one.” Such a simple concept, but could you or I say the same thing in the face of seeming hopelessness? Only at the limit of our abilities is our level of perseverance put to the test.