Tuesday, April 17, 2012

p is for persistence


Beginning over again isn't easy, whatever we choose to undertake. Luckily, encouragement is everywhere. We are surrounded by rewards for our PERSISTENCE, resilience, and unquenchable desire.

You can see it in the impish delight of a baby who is determined to crawl away from his mother.


http://activerain.com/

She will chase him down, scoop him up, and deposit him safely at her feet again. This only serves to elicit a squeal of delight as he takes off again…and again. Fearless. Tireless. Undaunted. His mother could get angry with him. She could put a stop to it altogether. She could simply give up and let him go! But if she is wise, she will make a game of it and he will come back for more every time.…something we all should learn to do.


You can see it at the beach, too—in the sand pipers, racing to and fro…chasing after the waves in pursuit of food and then pivoting and racing away again and again to avoid being swept up by the surf.

http://rangerland.net/

And, of course, there is the endless ebb and flow of the waves and the steady rise and fall of the tide day in and day out…again and again.


http://www.beachhunter.net/
This is what life calls us to be—fearless, energetic, playful, steadfast, PERSISTENT, and relentless no matter what we attempt—a story or a sketch, a song or a dance, a new class or a new job or a new relationship.


I believe that if your day…or the task ahead of you…or your attempt at it…is shrouded in dread or fear or confusion or shame, you should find a baby to watch. You should be a shore bird at the water’s edge. You should be the surf...the tide itself.


What else can you begin to be?

*
The Diver’s Clothes Lying Empty

You’re sitting here with us,
but you’re also out walking in a field at dawn.
You are yourself the animal we hunt
when you come with us on the hunt.
You’re in your body like a plant is solid in the ground,
yet you’re the wind.
You’re the diver’s clothes lying empty on the beach…
The lute strings that make ocean music,
not the sad edge of the surf, but the sound of no shore.
--Rumi--
*
In my next post, I'll give you a little QUIZ.
jan







1 comment:

  1. Love your P word today...persistence....I just felt my backbone stiffen. thanks.

    ReplyDelete