The Many Roads to Perseverance
By: Anvi Divekar
What Is Perseverance To You?
How is perseverance defined? To me, perseverance to me is defined as being dedicated to succeed, in your journey of overcoming different adversities. It's the ability to build resilience and bounce back up, ready to attack the problem from a different angle. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” I feel this quote really defines the meaning of perseverance, because the ability to persevere, is to keep on going, no matter how you get there.
How Is Perseverance Displayed in the Real World?
Carrying On, Even In Difficult Situations
From Making Pizza to Making Money
After his brother left, he needed a new partner, but money was tight for Tom when he found a new partner. The partnership got worse to the point where his lawyer suggested that he declare bankruptcy to start his business over again, but instead Tom paid $20,000 to his partner.
Even though he had a lot of different money problems, his business started to grow to the point where he could start paying of his different bad debts, which all had built up during his new partnership.
Tom eventually lost control of his company, where he was president with no total authority since he couldn't keep up with his business financially.
Domino Sugar had even claimed a trademark-infringement lawsuit, as Tom grew his pizza business’s reputation back up.
But even after all these setbacks, Tom never gave up. He had an extreme ambition to raise the ranking of his business in society. “I feel that all these setbacks were tools for me to learn from. I used them as stepping stones and didn’t see them as failures. A failure is when you stop trying, and I never did that.”
A Hard Worker
A New Life in a New World
Rose Nolan was a strong and eloquent 16 year old girl who immigrated from Ireland to America. Many adversities came towards Rose and her family's way, that caused her mother, father, brother, and youngest sister to go back to Ireland. Rose and her other sister, Maureen, had the opportunity of going back to Ireland, but they stood their ground and convinced their mom that they would stay and they could make a living. Little did they both know the big and small problems that would come their way...
After Rose was in America with Maureen, it seemed that there was no one to help support them, after their family went back to Ireland.
Both girls had to find different solutions to know how to support themselves and each other.
One solution was to work for Mr. Moscovitz. The problem was that he didn’t give Rose enough pay, but that didn’t make Rose feel inadequate, so she decided that she could continue to work for Mr. Moscovitz (making paper roses) to earn money to support both her and Maureen.
Since her first solution didn't work, the sisters had nowhere to live and were frantically looking for a good place to stay, since the weather was getting cold. Rose and Maureen both continued their search and eventually found a place to rent for shelter, paying with the very little money both of them had, combined.
Rose came to a conclusion that she was going to quit the paper rose making job, after a horrible incident. Since Rose was left jobless, she had no money to earn, for paying the rent and for supporting herself and her sister. The renter’s daughter, Gussie, luckily found a new suitable job for Rose at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, involving lots of sewing. Maureen had also been signed up for school, to continue her education so she can have a brighter future in America.
So far the solution was working and helped both the sisters live in America. But the problem was, Rose wasn't really confident in using a sewing machine, since she was so used to sewing by hand. She felt that she wasn't up for it, and that the job wasn't suitable for her. Eventually after practicing, she got the hang of how the machine functioned, and she felt ready for her first day at work.
But, a really big incident changed Rose's and Maureen's life. A fire broke out in the factory where Rose worked. Rose’s friends and Gussie passed away from the fire. Because of this, Rose and Maureen think of going back to Ireland, because they don't have any strong individual’s moral support. Maureen changes both their minds by telling Rose that they should stay, by saying "'I think we'll be alright from now on. Because, as long as we live, we'll never have another day as terrible as the twenty-fifth of March 1911.'"
Rose came across so many different problems, and had to find a suitable solution to solve the difficulties that came her way. This was a strong act of perseverance, not only for herself, but for her sister's well being as well.
From Little Girl to Young Woman
Reliving A Tragedy
One Last Hoop
Lauren Hill was just a teenager, but she had sparked a great influence on today's society, in many different ways. An important triumph in Lauren Hill’s life was when she was able to bring awareness to everyone about the terminal brain cancer that she suffered from, and what others with no voice had too. Lauren Hill was a 19 year old teen who had a love deeply for basketball. Her goal in life was to be able to play college basketball, before her passing away. She did in fact get the opportunity to pursue her dream of playing college basketball. Throughout her journey, she even got many people to become aware of this life threatening health issue. She had a strong conviction, and she not only fought for herself, but she fought for other patients diagnosed with the same brain cancer she had. “I’m not fighting for myself, I’m fighting for others. I’m fighting for the future.” This was a certain quote said by Lauren that really shows how she took triumph in what she did and how much she persevered to ensure that everyone in the world was well informed about this type of cancer. Lauren’s immense triumph was when she passed away, she left a huge impact on people. She had left a legacy that could not be forgotten about easily.
Fighting For Others
What Can We Learn?
I feel that if you really pay attention to the positive things in a time of difficulty, you are more likely to succeed, instead of paying attention to all of the bad things going on.
For example, in Tom Monaghan's story, he had so many adversities in his life, in his journey to boost his pizza business. He decided to pay attention to the positive things, by continuing his work and dedication to creating fresh pizzas for customers.
Another example is the perseverance of Lauren Hill. She didn't think of her triumph as something for her. The reason she persevered in the first place was to raise an eloquent voice for those who didn't really have a chance to let their voices be heard.
Even through rough times, the idea of perseverance should overwhelm your negative thoughts, to help you to overcome any adversity in today's world.