Spirituality and Wellness
Peggy McDonagh
Keep on Keeping on
With Perseverance
Actress and comedian Goldie Hawn said:
The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one.
But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first
you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering.... The
mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what
our stations in life.... Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are
all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death.
If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness
and more compassion, we must have the perseverance to grow as a
lotus and open each petal one by one.
The world is filled with people who, like each
one of us, experience the same obstacles of
depression, pain, grief, loss, illness, difficult
relationships, job loss—the same everything—but
who never give up. Worldwide, people tackle any
number of larger challenges such as famine, flood,
hunger, homelessness, hurricanes, tornados, war,
wildfires — the list is endless.
Perseverance when faced with life’s difficult
challenges is the day-by-day decision not to give
up. Every day people make decisions not to give
in or lose heart despite feeling lost, overwhelmed,
depressed, betrayed and exhausted. I suspect
that we all know of such people, and perhaps
we ourselves have persevered through the
inevitable complications of life. Perseverance is
a choice of how to respond to life’s situations,
and it eventually enables us to experience the
satisfaction of overcoming, healing, and surviving.
In his book Saying YES to Life, Ezra Bayda
writes, “Your difficulties are not obstacles on
the spiritual path, they are the path.” Problems
and trials are a part of life and can easily entrap
us in misery, disillusionment, despair, and
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discontentment. Perseverance enables us to avoid
the anger, bitterness, and frustration that can
result when we get mired down in misery and
disillusionment. It is an inner strength that keeps
us blossoming in the mud of life and helps us to
face the vicissitudes of life with courage.
Author and spiritual director Margaret
Wheatley wrote a small book entitled
Perseverance designed to be carried around
and quickly consulted whenever situations,
circumstances, or emotions threaten a person’s
capacity to keep going. Wheatley wrote the book
after receiving a text from a friend with whom
she worked with in post-Katrina New Orleans
as hurricanes continued to batter that region.
One morning, during yet another heartbreaking,
frustrating meeting, her friend sent her this
message: “Every day I have to make a choice not
to give up.”
Wheatley’s concern for people’s spiritual
well-being inspires her to teach about
perseverance. In her description of her book,
she writes: