I don’t know when or why my attitude changed, but it did. I remember the times before it changed: if I was late for a train I would resign myself to it on the way and give up rather than hurry. Nowadays I keep going, doing everything I can to make it, until I am stood alone on an empty platform. I do that because there are times when everything works out: there is a slight delay with the train and I make it even though I’m late, or I miss it only to catch another, delayed train minutes later.
There are still situations in which I lack the patience to apply myself to certain tasks and I give up easily, but when it comes to the important areas in life there is always a case to be made for carrying on, regardless of whether you think you will make it or not, regardless of what others try to tell you, and regardless of what the evidence is suggesting.
This post was written because of the corresponding entry on this day 11 years ago (Persistence is the Key). That one is a short post about my morning exercises, written at a time when I was exercising regularly. 11 years on and I find myself in a similar routine. So much so that the old entry could very well have been written today. Everything I wrote then is still the case now. Everything. Except that I got up 10 minutes earlier this morning.
In between the two entries, however, my routine was disrupted numerous times by a variety of events, including two major surgeries (in 2001 & 2007). At any time, but especially after being in hospital, I could have easily given up; my script would have been fulfilled, I would have bemoaned my misfortune, elicited sympathy from various sources (manipulation), attracted others whose scripts were to ‘look after‘, and I would never have known the life I am living now.
11 years on and I am doing the same as I was back then. In that respect nothing has changed. But I am stronger now, I am more mature, my script is changing all the time, I am in better physical shape than at any time during the last 20 years, and I am more fulfilled than I have ever been. Knowing how my life has turned out, I am thankful I persisted.
Not only are the events and the description from that historical post the same as they are now, the advice is the same too: be patient, persist, don’t overdo it. And never give up.
This day, 11 years ago: Persistence is the Key • Related posts: Words of Encouragement | Note to Self: Fight | I’ll Make It