skip to Main Content

WHY #5 of 101: Persistence Over Resistance and Scotland

WHY #5 Of 101: Persistence Over Resistance And Scotland

It’s been two years since my son, Graham, finished his chemo treatments following his diagnosis of Hodgkins. It was a celebration for me, my two sons and their girlfriends when I took them last week to Scotland. Here is a picture of my younger son, Gavin, celebrating in the canola fields that sweep across the beautiful Scottish Highlands like big pools of gold bubbling up between the country’s deep green Scottish Pines. Rising above this amazing landscape were majestic snowcapped mountains. It was glorious.

But what made the trip so powerful was the faith we all held in our hearts that Graham was and would continue to thrive in the world and make a difference in the path he has chosen which is all about improving the environment.  This realization made me think of the blog post I saw today from Seth Godin where he was differentiating Gladwell’s bestselling book, “The Tipping Point” from what he calls it, “The Flipping Point.” He says that the difference between one person making it to the point where everything changes, influencing one person at a time with your art and your heart as I would put it, is all about faith and persistence.

I love that Godin gets it. I also reference a recent book I read by Albert Einstein. Einstein was talking about the same thing. He said that we think there is a huge chasm between science and religion when, to the contrary, there isn’t. Those who use their faith daily and don’t give up (persisting) find that they are able to achieve so much more. Think Marie Curie. Here are her words, “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”

Graham did not give up and is a Cancer Survivor. Gavin, my son you see above, is a lover of words (he is a writer). He is also a best friend to his brother. Me? People who know me would say I’m shy but brave. Those who don’t know me well think I am not shy at all. What they don’t know is that every day I am afraid. But each day I get up and go out into the world and really, truly, have faith that something good will come. I don’t know when. I don’t know how. But I BELIEVE.

So when resistance pushes you back and sideways, as Winston Churchill so aptly said, “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

 

Back To Top