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The
Power of Persistence
Once we have begun to open the doors of
opportunity we usually find roadblocks and
challenges in the way toward our desired
success. Many give up in the face of such
obstacles. They give up on their dreams and
settle for much less. We’ve all done it.
The truly successful in any endeavor will
move past these challenges and persistently
press forward.
Heber J. Grant, a religious leader of the
American West, knew the power of
persistence. He often quoted Ralph Waldo
Emerson:
"That which we persist in doing becomes
easy to do; not that the nature of the thing
has changed, but that our power to do has
increased."
Grant not only quoted this maxim, he lived
it.
He
loved sacred hymns. Unfortunately, he
suffered from deafness. His daughter,
Frances, says of her father, "He had no
sense of pitch at all. You could play a note
on the piano then play a note four notes
higher, and he could not tell if it was
higher or lower."
But he persevered. "He would practice," she
recalled, "just playing a note on the piano
with one finger and practice and practice.
Of all his accomplishments he was proudest
of learning to sing."
Grant said, "The most I ever worked was to
sing 400 songs in four days." It may also
have been the hardest work for Rudger
Clawson and J. Golden Kimball too as they
were with him on a trip when he asked if
they had any objection to his singing 100
hymns that day.
"After I had sung about forty tunes," he
recorded, "they assured me that if I sang
the remaining sixty they would be sure to
have nervous prostration." He still sang the
full 100.
A
great proponent of personal development,
Heber J. Grant said, “Every individual can
improve from day to day, from year to year,
and have greater capacity to do things as
the years come and the years go.”
He
told the following story about a time in his
youth when he displayed the quality of
persistence:
“When I joined a baseball club, the boys of
my own age, and a little older, played in
the first nine, those younger than myself
played in the second, and those still
younger in the third, and I played with
them. One of the reasons for this was that I
could not throw the ball from one base to
the other; another reason was that I lacked
physical strength to run or bat well. When I
picked up a ball, the boys would generally
shout, ‘Throw it here, sissy!’ So much fun
was engendered on my account by my youthful
companions that I solemnly vowed that I
would play baseball in the nine that would
win the championship of the Territory of
Utah.
“My mother was keeping boarders at the time
for a living, and I shined their boots until
I saved a dollar, which I invested in a
baseball. I spent hours and hours throwing
the ball at a neighbor’s barn, which caused
him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the
Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so
that I could scarcely go to sleep at night.
But I kept on practicing, and finally
succeeded in getting into the second nine of
our club. Subsequently I joined a better
club, and eventually played in the nine that
won the championship of the Territory.
Having thus made good my promise to myself,
I retired from the baseball arena.”
As
a young man, Grant decided that he needed to
improve his penmanship (an important skill
at the end of the 19th century). He enrolled
in a penmanship and bookkeeping class. Once
during class several friends gathered around
his desk and in jest made slighting remarks
about his handwriting. One asked the
taunting question, “What is it?” Another
said, “It’s hen tracks.” The final insult
came from a boy who declared, “I know what
it is—lightning has struck an ink bottle.”
Young Heber jumped up, struck the table with
his fist and boldly stated that he would
live to write as well and better than the
professor of penmanship, and that he would
live to some day be the professor of
penmanship at the local university.
Of
course, he achieved both of these
prophesies. His penmanship skill helped him
greatly in earning extra money during his
struggling years; during this period he
spent much of his spare time, inscribing
greeting and calling cards, for which he
occasionally received more compensation than
from his regular employment.
As
you set your sites on achieving your dreams,
remember that you will find yourself beset
with many challenges as you move forward.
Rather than slipping into depression over
unrealized dreams, “cowboy up” and challenge
yourself to strengthen your resolve.
When one approach fails, modify it and try
again. Keep evaluating your progress,
adjusting your plan as needed. Find a way.
What you persist in doing will become easier
as your capacity and strength grow.
Taken from David DeFord’s book
Where Seldom Is Heard a
Discouraging Word.
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