Is the will to persevere inherent in us, or is it cultivated by our environment and circumstances? I would say from personal experience that it is some of both. For example, in my life there have been people who purposely sought to undermine my self-confidence. Some of it was at a young age, so the will I felt within to overcome it must have been inherent. I did not have enough life experience yet in the outside world for it to be otherwise. It was the first discovery of my strength of will to persevere.

However, later in life as I was confronted with the same lesson in different forms, those additional experiences fired and honed my will. That perseverance stood me in good stead during some periods of my life that felt like they would break me. They did not. I moved through them stronger still.

I’ve been observing of late the coping mechanisms of people around me, and others I read about, as we have moved through this collective trying time the past two years. What I see is this: Mostly we are all built of strong stuff, we just don’t always get the chance to realize it. This time has laid bare our vulnerabilities, our courage, our perseverance, and most of all, our love.

Undoubtedly we will all look back on this and say, “I never want to do that again.” But we will not be able to deny how it made us better. These sorts of trying times show us what we are truly made of, both as individuals, and as the collective called humanity. There is hardly anything better than knowing how strong we are!

It behooves us to keep cultivating our will and perseverance skills. What I also observe lately is a persistent media narrative that we are weak and vulnerable. We are not, when we find the will within to persevere, and when we help each other through it. Keep going, keep growing, keep loving, and never give up!

For further reading about perseverance, here’s a good article from Forbes: These 7 Qualities Lead To Perseverance When Faced With Adversity

Inspirational Quotes:

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
~ Maya Angelou

“Never lose hope. Storms make people stronger and never last forever.”
~ Roy T. Bennett

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
~ Confucius

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien

“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”
~ Winston S. Churchill

Iron Perseverance © Susan L Hart 2021 | Friendly comments welcome | Photo courtesy b52_Tresa, Pixabay

Sadly, what I see in the political world lately is a lot of smallness. Where is the greatness, the integrity, the true service to others (the people)? We keep waiting and hoping. Perhaps it is too much to expect in a hierarchical pyramid, a model that tends to attract the power hungry and easily corruptible to the top?

What then, is the remedy? Do we need a completely new model of governance, one that has previously never been explored? One that is not based on hierarchy?

The great leaders we remember and hold close to our hearts often have little or nothing to do with politics. They inspire us to be better people. They nudge us into our own greatness. When we become inspired, things begin to change from the bottom up.

Inspirational Quotes

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa

“A leader… is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.” ~ Nelson Mandela

“I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.” ~ Lao Tzu

Searching for Greatness © Susan L Hart 20201 | Friendly comments welcome | Photo courtesy sasint, Pixabay

May the light of Diwali be with all of you! In actual fact, the main Diwali (also known as Deepavali or Dipavali) festival day was yesterday, November 4th, but the celebration extends for several days every year around this time. For those readers not familiar with Diwali, you’ll find a brief synopsis of this delightful and deeply meaningful holiday in this article:

Diwali 2021: When is the festival of lights and how is it celebrated around the world?

It seems to me that the essence of an event celebrating the triumph of light over darkness should be acknowledged by all of us.

In honor of Diwali, please take a moment today to celebrate the light. It’s not that hard (or monetarily costly) to actively contribute to the light in the world. For example, you could take a moment today to bestow a random act of kindness, be it opening a door for a stranger, giving a sincere compliment from the heart,…you get the idea.

We must each aspire to behave like the light and become the light, every single day of our lives. This is how we personally vanquish darkness, candle by candle.

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Inspirational Quotes:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~ Rumi

“More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” ~ Roy T. Bennett

Triumph of Light © Susan L Hart 2021 | Friendly comments welcome

The brokenness of the root value systems in our societies is undeniable. We don’t need a fact checker to tell us this is true. The only proof we need is to simply look around and see the dysfunctional and chaotic nature of our world at the moment.

What is the solution? Some people wait for the more honorable politician or the more credible institution to fix it. In the long run some solutions might be found there, but for we individuals this entails a lot of waiting, hoping, and feelings of disempowerment in the process.

In this time of extreme and fast change, we do not have the luxury of just sitting back and waiting. It behooves us to dig in and make changes within ourselves, and to also actively participate in creating the changes we desire for the world.

In the Right Direction © Susan L Hart 2021 | Friendly comments welcome