“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
– James Baldwin
In the face of the unrelenting twin pandemics of COVID-19 and Social Injustice, we may feel exasperated and even hopeless. Let’s face it, we have been coping with stress on every side– the loss of loved ones, the rise in unemployment, the fear of getting infected, the fractured relationship with law enforcement, the masks, the social distancing, and the ominous cloud of suspicion around our political future.
More and more, it feels as if the only certainty is that life will continue to be “uncertain” for some time, and it is still not clear exactly when we will be at full capacity and functioning in the ways that we once did –and perhaps took for granted.
In spite of these ongoing challenges, we have somehow faced it all. We have managed to persist and persevere and find ways to co-exist and function alongside COVID-19. Who could have guessed that we would have to rely so heavily on two words usually reserved to motivate grinding athletes, discouraged job applicants, and anxious students facing tough courses.
Today, persistence and perseverance are a part of everyone’s vocabulary. They are the critical resiliency skills that we will be relying on as we brace for the colder weather and winter storms.
Perseverance literally means persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. It never denies the situation. Quite the opposite, perseverance acknowledges the obstacles, failures, and setbacks and pushes ahead. And history has proven repeatedly that perseverance (along with its fellow soldiers, patience, and persistence) has won many battles.
What is most fascinating about perseverance is that it does not always have the answers, but it somehow “finds a way” to stay afloat, press forward, and remain fiercely committed to the goal.
Persistence and Perseverance are just plain stubborn. They simply refuse to say, “I quit.” (The victorious usually cultivate this mindset.)
If we take a moment to reflect on our lives, many of us will recall times, where our unflinching determination to get something done, helped us achieve an important goal despite the odds stacked against us—despite others telling us, “it can’t be done”. Those victorious times when we believed in something (or someone) so deeply that we were fiercely intentional, relentless, and dogged—the times we chose faith over fear and embraced optimism over pessimism.
Our past victories and triumphs are poignant reminders, as we continue to face COVID -19 and tackle racial injustice, that we can be bigger, tougher, and stronger than our challenges and obstacles. And if not, we can outlast (and even overcome) them with stubborn persistence and perseverance.
So when the future feels overly uncertain or looks a bit bleak– and we have no idea how exactly to move forward–we still have the opportunity to gather the valuable teachings from past mistakes, errors, or losses, and instead of focusing on the failures, we can harvest past lessons and make a powerful decision to persevere—to persist until we succeed. In the words of Steve Jobs:
Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
So, as we continue to press onward and upward with our faith through these difficult times, let’s be sure to keep connecting the dots with patience, persistence, and perseverance. And if you need a little emotional support, please don’t wait–feel free to join with us in the Circle now.
Derek Suite, M.D. is the Founder and CEO of Full Circle Health, an award-winning, wholistic community mental health practice that provides culturally competent, spiritually sensitive mental health services to individuals and families living in the urban context.
