I was lacking inspiration this morning so I asked my eldest daughter who is full of creative ideas what shall I talk about in my newsletter today. Straight away she said ‘perseverance.’ They have been doing about it at school as my other daughter came home in the week saying that that they had watched the video of Derek Redmond at the 1992 Olympics when he pulled his hamstring with 250m to go in the 400m final. If you are not too young I am sure you will have seen it.
Determined not to let an injury stop him from finishing the race he went on to hop around the track for a further 150m before his Dad broke through security & went on to the track to try & stop him. He said that he had to finish the race so with 100m to go & in tears his Dad helped him get to the finish line.
The unedited version
an edited to music version
Perseverance is not giving up. It is persistence and tenacity, the effort required to do something and keep doing it till the end, even if it’s hard.
So after I agreed to talk about Perseverance and jotted down a dictionary definition I had a quick search on the old internet & found hundreds of quotes and images. When I started reading them I was drawn to all of those that were relevant to my challenge this weekend. ‘Mud runner’ The rain that we have had this week is going to make the 10k race in the land rover mud tracks a significant challenge for the Combined Mudders Team.
Here are some of those quotes: In it For the Long Run!
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”
― Andy Warhol
Good job because it won’t be a fast 10k.
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
― Nelson Mandela
I found this out last time I did Mud runner. That sinking feeling after the elation of making it to the top of the hill. The hills went on forever.
If you are going through hell, keep going.”
― Winston Churchill
I felt like this when I hit the 7k marker & had a shoe full of grit last time.
At this point it is pure perseverance, the will to succeed.
“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”
― Newt Gingrich
“The fatigue was there, but some people understood that putting it aside was the single most important factor in succeeding.”
― Seth Godin
I couldn’t give up, I am supposed to be the motivator & coach for this team. I encouraged them to take part in this challenge, I can not give up.
“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”
― George E. Allen
Some of those in this race were clearly not highly trained athletes but they entered as a team & finished as a team through sheer determination to finish and therefore, succeed.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
― Nelson Mandela
Before we began Mud runner in June there were lots of doubts as to whether we were ready for the challenge & there was fear of failure. As soon as we all crossed the line we were saying ‘ when is the next one’. Here we are now up for the next challenge. Determined to finish.
“once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit”
― Vince Lombardi
Determined to make a habit of success not failure we will be testing our perseverance on Sunday.
If you are struggling with a work, family or health challenge in your life then you need some perseverance to see you through. Be inspiredly by others to keep going, to keep working through the obstacles & challenges.
Yes it will hurt & will be difficult but learn form your previous set backs, stay positive. (This needs practice – practice being positive when you don’t need to be so that you remember how to be positive when you do – Michael Heppell) and try again.
Did you know that it took Thomas Edison 10,000 attempts to invent the lightbulb! We are thankfull for his perseverance.
Flip disappointment into motivation. Do not give up after a failure or a knock.
“I will have another drink because I have had a bad week & deserve it.”
“I am too busy to do these work outs.”
FLIP IT
“The reason that I am having a bad week or have not got time is because I am tired & stressed, because I have not been eating correctly, getting enough sleep & exercising.”
“Get these right & I will be able to think more clearly, have more energy & are more likely to handle stressful situations better.”
Setbacks, experiencing failure, feeling that everything is going wrong are emotions that everyone who is successful feels. It is how we handle & deal with these emotions that determines whether we move forwards or quit.
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
― Dale Carnegie
If you have failed to get on track with your health this year, then NOW is the time to get back on track.
