Another month has come and gone and we are now well on our way to longer days and warmer weather. If you think about the turning of the spring season, the picture portrays perseverance quite perfectly!
Last month I wrote to you on April Fool’s Day with a challenge. In anticipation of the adversity that would inevitable follow at some point, I encouraged you to plan your failure for the month of April. I used the P.L.A.N. acronym of:
P: Ponder Your Potential
L: Live Your Life
A: Anticipate Your Anxiety
N: Nevermind Your Negativity
for the purpose of helping you to see your obstacles and opportunities and your setbacks as future setups. Well, today its time I check in. How did it go? Were you able to navigate the surprises that life stirred up without warning? I sincerely hope that you were able to navigate the nerves created by your adversity more effectively with the strategy I shared.
Today I want to direct your attention to the gain behind the pain. As the famous philosopher Rocky Balboa put it: “No Pain, No Gain!” We have already discussed the benefits of pain but there is plenty of room left for the gain. The gain is what makes the pain well worth it. Sure, the gain could come without the pain but the payoff pales in comparison. Think about your life and the things you cherish most. Without knowing your specific situation I would dare to speculate that which matters most came at a significant cost?
Back to the changing of the seasons analogy in the opening line….This winter of 2015 in the southeast region has been long and drawn out. We are finally starting to see blue skies and leaves on the trees. Just think back to those cold February mornings, when the last thing you wanted to do was leave the house and fight the cold. Perhaps you were stranded in the middle of an ice storm or temporarily lost power? How did you handle the situation in moment? How might your attitude have changed if you had the mindset of “spring is right around the corner?” I am happy to say that “MAY FLOWERS HAVE INDEED BEEN BROUGHT BY THE APRIL SHOWERS!” Old Mother Nature has persevered yet again and is now beaming bright and glowing gloriously.
To illustrate this concept of perseverance a bit more, here’s a short excerpt from my manuscript The Problem with Perfect set for release on July 1st:
“You care enough about something to put up with pain. Pain is too … well, painful to endure without a commitment to something greater. Passion is what makes the pain worthwhile and keeps you in the game. Without it you will always quit at the first sign of struggle. Both our minds and bodies are resilient, but we must tell them to be so. Pain is the body’s natural defense mechanism, and it alerts us to potential danger. Stress acts in the same way but has more of a detrimental effect on the mind. Passion directs both pain and stress but only if we choose so. Passion connects us to our purpose, and that is precisely where we desire to live. Desire is not enough though. It takes deliberate and intentional effort. This effort will come only as a result of conviction and unrelenting focus.”
Perseverance has a payoff and it carries the tag of Passion!