"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance." Samuel Johnson.
Eastern sages love the dynamic properties of water. What happens when water, the softest of elements, contends with stone, the hardest of elements? Looking at the manifest properties of each, most of us would place our bets on the stone.
Water drops. A stone is in the way. The stone stops the water and deflects its path. It continues to drop. And it keeps bouncing off. Until one day there is a roughness, then a depression, and then a hole in the stone and the water finally has its way.
This is an image of the power of persistence, otherwise known as perseverance. Don’t give up. Whatever your dream is, whatever your goal is, use the dynamic powers of perseverence to overcome the obstacle that stands in your way, even the one that right now seems as hard as stone.
Do you need the help of another person? The same strategy applies. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once offered these encouraging words: “Perseverence is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake somebody up.”
So: Get knocking. Or dripping away.
Today.
