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Strengthening the Perseverance Muscle
Lowell Sheppard • March 17, 2020
"Gambatte Kudasai"
- Words of encouragement spoken by Japanese Pilgrims, coming down Mt Fuji, to those going up.
"Yeah yeah yeah”" . . you may be thinking. "We all know that perseverance is important. Nothing new here."
But wait! Read on and hear me out. A lot is being written related to the Corona virus. From the science behind the cause and the cure to the impact on the office. But, perhaps there is also a nugget of truth to be found about the importance of enduring. Whether it is a self imposed challenge or a crisis that has been inflicted on us, there is power to be found in perseverance. So read on. There are some lessons to be learned from Winston and Homer.
Over a half a century ago, so the story goes, on a stage at Oxford University, a plump man who had a liking for cigars and whiskey shuffled to the podium to give an address at the august institution. The speaker had achieved a lot. From mastering English as a failing student to fighting to showing courage through the Second World War, this man had demonstrated grit and determination. The students that gathered to hear him speak, were in awe. The invited speaker leaned his cane against the podium, placed his top hat on a small table and took the cigar from his mouth, as he slowly rose onto his toes and leaned forward. Looking out over the great hall, he uttered three words, three times, each with different emphasis.
“NEVER give up
Never give UP
NEVER GIVE UP”
His heels returned to the ground, and after returning his cigar to his mouth, he picked up his top hat, and with the aid of the cane, shuffled off the stage. The audience was left in a stunned silence, not only by the brevity of the speech, but of it profundity. Winston Churchill need not say any more. His life and achievements filled his words with authority.
Of course, his message is nothing new. We have been told, often, that the 'tortoise won the race'. It is the consistent, boring repetition of a task that achieves the desired goal. But, it is not merely the achievement of the goal that is the reward of 'enduring'. There is something more. Something spiritual, something magical
that happens when we press on. There is the potential of inner transformation, enlightenment and even epiphany. There is the potential of fog giving way to clarity. It may only be subtle, but incrementally ,each time we take a step, and action of perseverance, moving beyond our comfort zone and what we believe to be our personal limitation, we have the prospect of being rewarded by bluer skies, greener grass and clearer vision of what can be.
In Japanese, the word for crisis is comprised of two Japanese characters: one means "danger",
while the meaning of the other is a blend of the two English words "opportunity" and "promise". You see, any feat of endurance, whether physical, emotional, intellectual or even vocational often involves a moment of crisis where you do not feel you can go on, and your body or mind says, "NO more; that’s enough!" Our 'being' is simply responding to its known limits based on past experience. Our inner self, our body, our mind is saying . .. any further is the unknown, are you sure you want to keep going.
Homer Simpson
has his own take on this concept and invented a word to describe it: "crisi-tinunity". Every crisis carries both a danger and the promise of an opportunity. Like an eagle rising on a thermal there is the prospect of discovering a 'lift' that raises you to a new perspective of your self and the possible paths forward.
Even when pain and crisis is inflicted on us by others, or external forces, we still have a choice to move on, to survive and see a brighter day.
Chasing the Cherry Blossom
Twenty years ago this week, I set out to ride my bicycle the length of Japan from Kyushu to Hokkaido, intent on following the annual migration of the Cherry Blossom front and experience the celebrations and parties along the way that accompany this seasonal and societal happening. The 3000 km trek was not easy. More than once, I felt like giving up. Homesickness, tendinitis, severe weather, news of family members involved in accidents, all made the going tough at times. Then there were the mountains, the winds, and the tunnels that made for particularly challenging days. Once I was even detained by the police for several hours.
I was elated when I finished in Hokkaido. My final 'pedal' was back to the coast on a forest road to board a ferry home. As I descended to the coast through the quiet of the forest, with only the sound of rain gently tapping my helmet, I felt an inner glow. I was at one with my bike and my surroundings and it was then that I felt an answer come to the question that was underlying my quest. Here is how I describe it my book Chasing the Cherry Blossom:
The Forest was quiet around me, and my spirit and mind became one and I wandered into my thoughts. It was the last day of traveling alone and I felt the inner glow of knowing I had achieved my goal. Then it came, as clear as a whisper in a quiet room. It was a moment, spiritual in content and texture, but unaccompanied by anything dramatic or supernatural. There was no booming voice from the sky yet the words that came brought extraordinary clarity unlocking residual self-doubt. They came as a caboose at the end of a train of thought. As fleeting as the moment was, like the cherry blossoms, the words could not have come with such power and healing without the six weeks of pedaling and pain that had gone before. It was a deeply private moment, but I knew I had cycled the length of Japan for those words.
That bike ride changed my life
I might add one more thing about perseverance. It is a muscle that needs to be strengthened. The more we endure, the more we can endure. So, press on folks. There will come an end to our current crisis. Seek the promise and the opportunity,
Here are some action points you may consider:
- Be inspired! Read a book or watch a documentary about a person or a community who survived and thrived after a calamity or challenge.
- Reflect on your own life and remember the times when you felt an afterglow following a crisis or challenge. What did you learn from that.
- Set short-term goals that will stretch and exercise the mental muscle needed to persevere. Use those accomplishments to pursue longer term stretch goals.
Remember is its Never Too Late!
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