Perseverance. -noun – steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. This little word has stuck with me ever since I was a wee little lad growing up in South Africa, it was the motto of our school, Springvale Primary School (logo pictured left). I always loved that logo- a key (wisdom) and a sword (strength). We all had to wear a uniform and the shield logo was imprinted onto our blazers. I loved it. Looking back it was so interesting how the school’s main objective seemed to be instilling the value of perseverance into each of its students, and even more so interesting just how GOOD at it they were. This past year I have truly been reminded of the value of perseverance, but there is one particular memory I should highlight– One late afternoon earlier this year I was out on the beach with a good friend, we were having a great time running around on the sand, being kids again, kicking a tiny soccer ball amongst washed-up old seaweed, watching other people run and play with their dogs in the water, it was a beautiful evening. All of a sudden she turned to me in true dismay and explained she had lost her car keys in the sand at some point while we were running around—her keys being our only way home and access to our belongings. Thus we began our search… we tried to backtrack our steps but it was nearly impossible, we did the usual sweeps as the sun faded behind the blue curtain of the ocean… it began to get dark and increasingly difficult to make out shapes of things in the sand below our feet. Off into the distance I saw her slump down onto her knees, she was sitting folded over as if she was crying. I went over to her and said “We’ve gotta find it, we still have about 10 minutes of light, lets keep looking”. “Lets just go… its useless- we’ll never find it here…” She started walking back towards the car though—I was not about to give up until it was impossible for me to see– so I kept sweeping the area’s I suspected it may be, picking up random dark bits and pieces of driftwood or stones… It was now officially impossible to distinguish pebbles and driftwood from all the random bits of seaweed lying around. There comes a point when its so dark you can’t see anything and I knew that it was that time… just then I pick up what looked to be a black volcanic rock– only to find that it was in fact… her missing keys, our way home and the key to our belongings!!

I was reminded that evening about perseverance, even when the odds seem stacked against you… even with discouragement… even after failing so many times… I increased our chances of finding the keys by hanging in there just that little bit longer.

I’ve discovered this whole year that perseverance has been the theme… through my work, through my personal life and accomplishments, personal growth, relationships… even through sticking to my values when they were challenged. If I just gave up when I couldn’t solve a problem, if I just gave up when I didn’t understand something… I wouldn’t be strong, and I certainly wouldn’t be wise.