To persevere is the first thing anyone should learn, and the last thing they should forget.
The ability to persevere against all odds is a main character trait of successful people, and one that you should develop within yourself if you are to accomplish anything in your life.
The following story is a great example of the power of perseverance.
"When Frank was five years old, his parents divorced and his father went off into the military.
As Frank grew up, he occasionally had thoughts about his father and the times they shared together.
As time went on and Frank became an adult, his father had become a distant memory.
As Frank grew older and developed a career, he eventually got married and had a child.
One day while Frank was shaving his face, his son came into the bathroom and laughed as he looked up at his father.
"Daddy, you look like a clown with that stuff on your face," Frank's son said to him.
Frank remembered back to a story his mother had told him about a time when he was a child and said the same thing to his father.
Frank decided he was going to find his father, so he went to question his mother to get any information he could that would help him find his father.
His mother informed him that his fathers family had died and that she had no idea where to tell Frank to begin looking for his father.
The only place that his mother could think of for Frank to start looking was the American Embassy in France.
So without hesitation, Frank called the embassy hoping to find anything that could link him to his father.
The phone rang and a sharp, crisp voice came on the other end of the line.
"U.
S.
Embassy, how may I direct your call," The voice said.
"Yes, um, hi.
my name is Frank Smith, and I am hoping to find my father," Frank said.
After a few moments Frank could hear some rustling on the other end of the line..
"Is this a Mr.
Frank Smith, born in Portland Oregon on March 27th 1965?" The voice asked.
"Why, yes, that's me," Frank replied in a questioning voice.
Frank could hardly believe his ears when he heard the voice yell to everyone around him "Hey everyone! I have the son of Colonel John Smith on the phone! He found us!" All frank heard were cheers and clapping and crying.
The man returns to the phone and tells Frank that his father had been calling every day for the past nine years to see if the embassy had located his son.
The following day Frank received a phone call from his father.
His father explained to him that he had been traveling the United States for three years trying to find him.
One time he had found a home that Frank and his mother had moved out of not even a month before and the landlord had no idea where they had moved to.
Frank and his father now see each other as often as possible.
" This is a true story with some of the details changed.
The power of perseverance is more incredible and magical than one could ever begin to imagine.
Taking one more step than you feel you are able to.
Going one minute longer than you thought you could.
Doing one more thing than you thought possible.
We never know when the next step will be the one that gets us to where we want to go.
So many people quit one yard from the touch down.
One step from the finish line.
One minute from the hour that will give them everything they want and need to get to where they are going.
Never stop going, no matter the hardships.
No matter the cost.
When you find a dream within your heart, give it everything you have until you have that dream.