On Persistence or Not Giving Up: First In The Series
There comes a time when we must commit to our life’s purpose. We discover that there never was an individual, there is no one living and there never will be another person exactly like us. We hear louder than ever the world calling us to use our unique light to brighten the corner where we find ourselves.We remember what Pablo Casals, (1876-1973) the Spanish Cellist and Conductor, said about every child and every human being: “The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.”
Yet often, we discover that seemingly impossible difficulties assail our dreams. In despair, we are tempted to give up too soon.
The lives of those who have achieved the seemingly impossible remind us that we, too, must never give up. This “I will never give up” attitude propelled Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay to climb Mt Everest. Tensing Norgay, the Nepalese climber had attempted to reach the summit of the five and half mile high mountain five times without success.
Edmund Hilary, the Briton, would admit that “we didn’t know if it was humanly possible to climb Mt. Everest.” Yet these two pioneering mountaineers conquered the world’s highest peak. Fifty years later, more than 1200 people have repeated the same feat once thought impossible.
Sir Winston Churchill who later became Prime Minister of Britain entered the Royal Military Academy after failing three times. He led Britain to win the Second World War with the Allies through his burning desire for victory. He would tell the House of Commons at the beginning of the war: “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival”
Comments
I am interested to know what you think the factors are that cause people to give up.... What happens in some people's lives that make them fight and others give up?
Posted by: D. S. | June 5, 2008 08:42 AM