Persevere....

I was running at LA Fitness a few weeks ago. The treadmills are on the second level overlooking the gym.  Directly across from me, within a collage of pictures, is the word: Persevere. The  letters must be 8 feet tall.  They have always been there, but I had never seen them before.   I think I needed to see it on that particular day - my run was not coming easy. My legs felt heavy, my lungs felt deflated.  But that word stared me down, silently urging me on. 

per·se·vere  

/ˌpərsəˈvi(ə)r/

Verb Continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success.

Synonyms persist

That word has stuck with me since that day, leaping into my mind when ever I needed it.

....

Teaching 8, 3rd graders about intersecting rays and angles and polygons during my student teaching. 3rd graders who have to work very hard to understand..... but often don't work very hard.  Missing homework. Blank stares. Tired yawns.  Are they getting it?  I must persevere. They deserve it.
	Running a 5K on a chilly February morning.  30 degrees, with a bitter wind coming around every corner I turn in the open course through a residential neighborhood, in a outlying suburb.  Cold air filling my tender lungs that have been pampered by the 70 degree indoor air at the gym.  Slick streets and hills much larger than the 1% incline I sporadically throw into my treadmill run. Hills that caused me to feel muscles I had been ignoring, and they were letting me know. No mileage markers, I had no idea how far I'd gone...or how far I had left.   I had to be close, I hadn't walked yet.  I had to persevere. I deserved it. I had to just run. I hadn't fainted, slipped, frozen, or walked.  I could do it.  I did.  43rd place.  34 minutes.
So many times we must dig deep. Work harder than we think we can. Push ourselves far out of the familiar easy places we linger in. Persevere.  Persist. The success will eventually come if we keep at it.