Celebrating Perseverance

Time flies when you’re having fun, and it travels at warp speed the older you get!  Wow, here we are, the end of another year in sight.  We are close to completing the first quarter of the 21^st century.  It seems like only yesterday we were worried that all of the computers and ATM’s in the world were going to shut down when Y2K rolled around…but here we are, we survived. 

As we age some of us don’t like birthdays.  I like my birthday, it’s in the summer and I’ve always said I prefer having birthdays to not having them, probably for obvious reasons.  It’s good to get older, it gives us more life experience and wisdom…or at least we hope it does. 

I hope that we can choose to celebrate another year because we made it.  Surviving each year is an accomplishment.  In a dog-eat-dog world that can be challenging, to say the least, we are still here.  We persevered, we hung in there, and here we are.  

Perseverance may be the one quality that I admire most.  Having that grit and determination to keep going isn’t always easy.  Someone famous (I think) once said that showing up is half the battle, and someone else even more famous said that just showing up is 90% of success.  As we approach the holidays, just be proud that you showed up again this year.  It may not seem like much, but sometimes just being there is all that is needed.  So don’t skip those meetings, don’t cancel those plans with your family, go to the gym and work out, make that trip you’ve wanted, and just do it.  Keep showing up.     

I know the holiday season can be filled with joy, stress, thankfulness, and sadness.  It’s a mix of emotions for some as we think of those memories of yesteryear. Perhaps we remember loved ones who are no longer with us.  I’m sorry for that, but I am also hopeful that there are some good memories and that we can remember and celebrate those loved ones. Maybe we can say honestly say that “life is good”, or that it has been good, at least at times.  Being good doesn’t mean it’s been great, and it doesn’t mean it’s been perfect, but that’s ok, because nothing is perfect. 

I wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season.  May you recall good memories and make some new ones. I hope that you will keep persevering, keep moving ahead, and keep showing up. 

“Ninety percent of success in life is just showing up.”

-Woody Allen