Today's topic is.. Persistence.

In today's world perseverance is an important trait to have if one wants to have any quality of life. If we want something we must be prepared to fail several times before we finally get it. But not all of us seem to have this trait of persistence, why not? Perhaps the problem is that once we become accustomed to regular success in one area, we begin to want that feeling of regular success in all areas of our life. After all, success feels good and failure feels bad. When one has become habituated to the feelings of self worth and pride that success brings, it's nice to think that feelings of insecurity and failure are a thing of the past. But if we fall into this trap, new experiences may be avoided solely for the fear of failure. Becoming overly accustomed to success can also cause us to give up easily on new endeavors. Take playing the piano for example; it's a simple fact that most people who try to learn to play the piano don't stick with it long enough to really learn to play. Why don't they stick with it? Is it because they no longer think they will ever have any success at playing the piano? Have they realized that they are such horrible piano players they will never be able to play no matter how hard they try? I do not believe so, I believe that they "put their piano playing on hold" so to speak because they are tired of experiencing feelings of failure. They have become habituated to success in other areas of their lives, and they desire it with the piano at a faster rate then they are seeing it happen. But assuming this is the case, it seems to me a terrible way to perceive and live life. Failure is a part of life and in order to be successful we must overcome any fear of it.

Perhaps we can even learn something from the animal kingdom. The tiger for example, for all its strength and cunning, will fail on average 19 out of 20 hunting attempts. Each time the tiger wants a meal it has to be prepared to fail 19 times. I wonder where our species would be today if we all had the tiger's tenacity? Perhaps some of us still do possess the power of perseverance, but many others of us seem to have fallen into the trap of complacency. If we ever find that we are among the complacent ones, we must do our best to remember that fortune favors the persistent as well as the bold.

Vocab :
Habituated: to accustom (a person, the mind, etc.), as to a particular situation.

Complacency: a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.