Perseverance

I learned something this past week. 

The lesson came from an unexpected source and it proves the point that we can all learn something from someone regardless of their place in society or on the chronological spectrum we all are on at this time.

My daughter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications from Simpson College in 2008. But after four years of a quality higher education she spent the next 18 months or so trying to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.  (I decline the inclination at the moment to offer commentary on why this decision making did not happen before graduation.)  But the decision she eventually made appears to have been the correct one.

Blair returned to her Alma Mater to pursue a master’s degree in education.  She wanted to teach Spanish; something she had studied since the ninth grade. Her decision required sacrifice and indebtedness.  She sacrificed, to an extent, the life of a typical early 20 something in order to hit the books when others were socializing. She  sacrificed financially by having to go deeper into debt.            

Fast forward two years to this past week when got a phone call late in the afternoon.  I heard a slight whimper on the other end and said, “Hi, Blair.” 

“Dad.”   “I got the job.”  She had just learned she was going to be the high school Spanish teacher in a central Iowa school district and the tears were tears of joy.  “After all of that work, Dad, it paid off.” “Thank God.”

This is a lesson for someone in their 20’s like Blair, to someone in their 50' like me and older.  You can set a goal in life.  You can hope it will come out the way you want it to come out.  You can seek the help of others as you pursue it.  But in the end, it’s up to you.  You have to put in the work, the sacrifice, and be persistence to reach that goal you have set in life.  All of it translates into perseverance that is needed to reach the desired result.  

And it’s a lesson I learned from a 20 something for a goal that I have set for myself.  Perseverance is key to the success of any business including the one associated with this blog.