My 500 Words: A Writing Challenge - Day 9

Today's prompt suggests that I teach you something. After giving it some thought, I decided I know something about perseverance.

So, how do you persevere? Perseverance means "steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success."

I've had lots of difficulties in my life and more than my share of delays, so I am going to share with you my steps (or keys) for how to persevere.

1. You have to make up your mind that you are going to keep pressing forward. Winning the battle in your mind is really half the battle. You have to decide that you won't let anything stop you from reaching your goal.

2. You have to keep the big picture in the front of your mind. You can't let circumstances drown you. You can't let how you feel overtake you. You have to remember where you are right now isn't where you will stay.

3. Someone told me once "Delay is not denial." That is so true. If you want to persevere, you can't be afraid of waiting. Persevere means to continue on, even in the dry seasons. I'm talking about those seasons of life that it seems like nothing is happening. You can't see any progress. Keep on doing what you know to do. I promise it will pay off. Small steps lead to big victories!

4. To persevere, you must never give up. You must never give up on yourself OR your dream. You are stronger than you think. 

5. Another step in perseverance is surrounding yourself with a great support system. It is harder to accomplish something by yourself. You need other people around you to lift you up when things get hard. You need someone to remind you that you can do it. I will never forget when a friend told me they believed in me. That made ALL the difference in the world.

6. You have to think positively if you want to persevere. Negative thinking will derail you. It will try to get you off course. I haven't been able to control what happens to me or when it happens, but I can control how I react to situations. Whether we persevere or not has a lot to do with our attitude. 

7. In addition to others believing in you, you have to believe in yourself. I know that is hard to do at times.

8. You have to make a decision to learn from your failures. Instead of giving in to those feelings of discouragement and despair, ask yourself, "What can I learn from this?" Let those hiccups along the journey fuel you to dig your heels in and not be moved.

9. You must celebrate your victories, but also know there is always something greater ahead. 

10. Along the way, you will have to get rid of baggage. You've heard the saying, "You have to give up to go up." At some point you will realize what is weighing you down and making it hard to stand firm.