Relentless Persistence Can Move the Immovable

Halfway through the night while I was asleep, or on its edge, the word “persistence” captured my undivided attention.

 

I turned it over and over, trying to discern why it had popped in to belabor me in this unusual way.

 

A single word: Persistence.

 

Despite my desire to abandon it, it persisted!

 

I began  to free-associate it, to recall the times when it appeared or manifested.

 

The Grand Canyon exists because of the relentless persistence of the Colorado River.

 

Faith traditions continue to exist because of the relentless persistence of their adherents.

 

Barack Obama became President of the United States because of the relentless persistence of organizers on the ground who door-belled, caucused, campaigned and wore out their shoe leather working for him.

 

The fact that he has the ability to hit the ball out of the park every time he takes to a podium–and that he has a wife who is equally impressive and expressive– certainly helped, too.

 

Despite enormous odds, the Obamas’ relentless persistence in pursuit of the highest office in the land carried the day on Election Day–twice!

 

Against monumental odds and because of tedious, mind-numbing, relentless persistence, I’ve earned close to $150,000 on Elance/Upwork as a copy and content writer and editor over the course of ten years.

 

(I don’t work exclusively on Upwork, needless to say. That would be nuts, given the anemic return on investment with regard to the insane amount of time I spend there looking for projects that I want to do that have clients attached who are willing to pay what professional copy and content writing and editing are worth.)

 

I became a proficient writer–and a published one, thanks to DeForest Kelley, who submitted my first nationally-published article for me in 1969–after tens of thousands of hours of relentless persistence as a grade school, junior high, and high school student in Cle Elum.

 

In the ensuing years, I continued to persist as a writer–as you can tell! Getting me to STOP writing would be impossible unless you “put out my lights” permanently!

 

Parents–single, coupled and divorced–succeed in raising their children to be honorable, active citizens, breadwinners and successful parents due to relentless persistence.

 

LGBTQI, Black Lives Matter, Muslim and other allies and advocates of goodwill relentlessly pursue justice,  equality and decent, respectful treatment for all Americans.

 

Small farmers relentlessly persist.

 

Minimum-wage workers relentlessly persist against enormous odds, sometimes at two or three part-time jobs in an effort to keep their heads above water and hope going for a rosier future down the road.

 

Teachers relentlessly persist, paying for school supplies that their poorest students’ families can’t afford, to help break the chain of generational poverty that is due to systemic marginalization and the resulting income gap.

 

 

“Nevertheless, she persisted.”  Mitch McConnell’s admonishment when Elizabeth Warren would not allow the racists in the room to control the narrative when now-Attorney General Jeff Beauregard Sessions was under scrutiny during his confirmation hearings.

 

(See link above. Warren was attempting to read a letter by Coretta Scott King–Martin Luther King’s widow–about Jeff Sessions’ racist attitudes and policies. When she was stopped in her tracks, McConnell censured her. She later introduced Mrs. King’s letter without reading it, for the record.)

 

I could also list rascals and scoundrels whose relentless persistence caused ruin and wretchedness to others. But you can name them as well as I can, and I certainly don’t want to encourage them to continue (of those who are alive as of this writing)!

 

So I think my next non-fiction book may well be about relentless persistence. Without it, nothing worthwhile ever gets done.

 

But it has to be laser-focused to work well–the Grand Canyon couldn’t have been carved in the time it was by mere mists or sporadic assaults. When it is laser-focused, it can remove mountains, obstacles and repressions and clear the way for brighter days and a better future.

 

Here’s to the relentless persistence you’re laser-focusing on your (benevolent) goals.