Never, never, never give up – Winston Churchill

Perseverance, according to the dictionary, is the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose or a state, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement.

Before I became a parent there were many things I thought I’d need. For starters, a good amount of patience, compassion and wisdom. Not to mention the ability to function on less that nine hours sleep. What I didn’t realise (in my uneducated and innocent days) is that parenting requires perseverance, and lots of it.

Not all plain sailing

There are times when bedtime in our house is a breeze. Everyone goes to bed without fuss and within a sensible space of time, all is quiet and the children are asleep. Success! On other occasions, things don’t run as smoothly. Some nights, after the usual routine of a story, prayers and a lullaby, in order for my children to finally go to sleep I have to go back to their room and remind them it’s bedtime, that they need to be quiet and try to sleep. Invariably on these occasions it takes more than a few reminders before everyone drops off.   While it can take some time before the desired outcome happens, if I give up and don’t persevere the goal of getting everyone to sleep takes much longer and might not be realised at all.

The thing that keeps me going back for one more reminder is that I know that if I keep persisting, eventually there will be a break through. I may not know how many times I need to go back but I know that sooner or later those eyes will close, the breathing will change and sleep will come. If I stop before that point however, I just end up back at square one and have to start all over again.

Keep on keeping on

Whatever resistance you face in your life, it’s important to persevere. Giving up before you achieve your goal will only leave you with regrets and wondering what might have been. The success that you’ve been dreaming of may be just around the corner but if you give up before you get there you’ll never know. Although it can be discouraging when things take longer than we expect them to, it takes a person of character to keep on going until they reach the prize.

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