Perseverance -- Life Lessons from a Baby about Reaching our Goals
Persevere to Acheive Your Goals
Today, for the umptillionth time, my baby Reese found the dog dish and began throwing dog food all over the floor. Yet this is better than the "good old days" when he would eat the food. Then he proceeded to play in the dog's water until I finally was able to get the bowls up on the table away from his grabby hands.
Although his continual persistence to get the dog food, despite my pleading for him to leave it alone, can be quite frustrating at times, his perseverance is quite impressive. It got me thinking about how babies, when they want something, persist in trying to get it no matter what the cost. They throw fits, they whine, they stand on their tiptoes to reach as high as they possibly can, they climb dangerous chairs and couches to reach amazing heights, not thinking about the fact they could fall and get hurt. Yet as adults, we lose this fearless pursuit of our goals and dreams.
It seems that as we get older, we get beat down by the world telling us "no" to our dreams and our goals. If we stand on our tiptoes to reach high, we may lose balance and fall. As a baby, we'd get back up and try again, but as adults, we take that as a sign of defeat and give up. And although babies' persistence comes from a complete selfish desire, it teaches us the concept of not giving up.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.
This is perseverance.
Fight for Your Dreams
Not all of our goals and dreams are good or God pleasing because often we are still like babies, pursuing our selfish desires. But if we pursue the goals and dreams that God gives and blesses then God is for us, and who can be against us. There's a saying that's cliché but is very true,
When the world says no way, we say Yahweh.
Yahweh is the Hebrew name for God. So the phrase means that when the world lies and tells us there is no way, we know and trust that there is a way because with God, all things are possible for those who believe and rely on Him. So we say "yeah way" instead of "no way" because we can call on God's name and say "Yahweh".
May you find what God's goals and dreams are for you and may you boldly and fearlessly pursue them, with a perseverance only matched by that of the littlest persist-ors.
