Persistence

Persistence is the act of persisting. Persist is another way of saying don't give up. A friend sent me an inspirational story. Rather than try to remember it, I will simply reprint it here.

Giving Up Too Soon(Author Unknown)
A man meets a guru in the road. The
man asks the guru, "which way is success?"
The berobed, bearded sage speaks
not but points to a place off in the distance.
The man, thrilled by the
prospect of quick and easy success, rushes off in the appropriate direction.
Suddenly, there comes a loud "SPLAT."
Eventually, the man limps back,
tattered and stunned, assuming he must have misinterpreted the message. He
repeats his question to the guru, who again points silently in the same
direction.
The man obediently walks off once more. This time the splat is
deafening, and when the man crawls back, he is bloody, broken, tattered, and
irate.
"I asked you which way is success," he screams at the guru. "I
followed the direction you indicated, and all I got was splatted! No more of
this pointing! Talk!"
Only then does the guru speak, and what he says is
this: "Success IS that way. Just a little PAST splat.

It is tempting to just give up when the knocks get to be too much. However, Usually the blessing is just beyond the pain.