In Chinese, the character for perseverance is often the same as the one used for patience…Human experience is the story of perseverance…Think of all the people you know…who have just kept going, who didn’t yield, who were tenacious, steadfast, patient.
Margaret J. Wheatley
In my life, I endeavor to persevere. In American business, in Town Hall, through daily challenges, major disasters, personal ups and downs, hanging in there is a powerful quality. Sometimes patience is the greatest virtue, sometimes strength (mental and physical), sometimes words of support from others, sometimes other qualities are needed to lead to perseverance through myriad puzzles and problems.
To achieve good change in the world and to not yield to negativity, my working life has been to work from within. The hardest problems in business (for profit, not-for-profit, government), in war and peace, in life, are often not solved in a quantum leap navigation, sensibility, calmness, and communication are key.
Learn the ropes, help others learn the ropes, then pull the right ones at the right time. Be part of the fabric. The primary goal is to get the job done well. Along the way, it’s okay to bring light, humanity, and humor.
What are the elements that guide you, that you advocate, to get through the toughest of times? Faith, hope, love? Love, joy, peace? Wait and hope, like the Count of Monte Cristo? Spirit, by whatever words you define that? Reliance on others? Whatever gets you through the night, whatever helps you persevere, is alright, alright.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul…will help immensely.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Patience is required to “guide from the inside.” Fix or build or negotiate what you can when you can. One must see the long view and not be frustrated by the hurdles and delays and backsteps. In a larger institution, your impact is generally evolutionary, not revolutionary. Within Town Hall, or any business, the skills of diplomacy and collaboration come in mighty handy.
Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life for which the first was made.
Robert Browing
The Town of EP brought a topic to the Board on February 25 about establishing opportunities for senior engagement, base funding, and more. In comparison to the State of Colorado, where 16% of the people are age 65 or older, Estes Park has 40% age 65 or older. It’s a mature town. Boulder and Fort Collins are 12%; Loveland 21%; Steamboat 17%.
I’m happy to consider elevating services to this very important group. While the Town is here for all, many of our seniors have been underserved in Estes.
It’s not easy bein’ green.
Kermit the Frog (song written by Joe Raposo)
I get feedback about these columns. Thanks for that, including the debate, criticism, and pushback. That’s how I learn and grow.
I wish [for you to] respect the differences of others, because the worth and virtues of each person often remain to be discovered. I wish you to resist the stagnation, the indifference, and the negative values of our time.
Jacques Brel
Each of us is unique. We’re similar in that we’re all humans. But our experiences and education are our own. As we grow, analytic and abstract thought develops.
Our information sources and influences lead us to our own array of facts, philosophies, beliefs. We grow and socialize and interact with and work with all of these other one-of-a-kinds. We use the knowledge we’ve gained to find common ground. We seek to understand others’ beliefs and philosophies and form constructive relationships with them.
Despite the differences, I believe that most people want to do good work and want good outcomes for their families. I’m disheartened when I see mean-spiritedness or cruelty in our society.
Whether you’re a retired resident, a post-millennial worker, a student, a CEO, a housekeeper, a soldier or sailor or pilot, a developer, a shopkeeper, a salesman, a politician, an employee of the Town, a journalist, a hardworking honest immigrant, an elderly person, a pastor, a farmer, a wanderer, whatever, you deserve to be treated with humanity as long as you provide the same.
Connect with the positive, the uplifting, the light, and you will persevere.
“Of all kinds of credulity, the most obstinate…is that of [those who] resign the use of their own eyes and ears and resolve to believe nothing that does not favor those whom they profess to follow…[These men] deny the most notorious facts, contradict the most cogent truths, and persist in asserting today what they asserted yesterday, in defiance of evidence.”
Samuel Johnson, June 17, 1758
Thanks, Gary