Perseverance

Challenges are things that are impossible to avoid. It’s a part of life that humans try to escape from or go through. Challenges can be learning to ride a bike, studying for hours to ace the test the next day, and perhaps writing this speech in less than 30 minutes. Everyone has goals they’ve set themselves for. Question is, are you willing to work hard and overcome all the problems you face in order to achieve your goal?

For athletes,a challenge they face constantly is the physical pain they endure during training and competitions. That pain is what athletes are willing to risk in order to become the best. Famous cyclist Lance Armstrong said, “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year but eventually it will subside and something else will take it’s place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” What Armstrong says is true. Most pains will eventually heal as time passes by. But knowing that you’ve given up on something important can last forever. Perseverance means to endure the pain that comes with the challenge and getting through it to become stronger.

Another way of understanding perseverance is by evaluating a challenge and finding a solution. Perseverance doesn’t mean to go through a challenge and simply accept what’s inflicted onto you. It is also a way to fight back, to find a solution. Well-known basketball star Michael Jordan once said, “If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb, go through it, or work around it.” As simple as it sounds, not all challenges come up with simple solutions. Challenges aren’t made easy. Persevering means to get tough, put your thinking caps on, and look at the challenge at a new perspective.

Perseverance means a steady effort to maintain a course of action, belief, or purpose in spite of difficulty. In order to persevere, pain and a lot of hard thinking will be needed. Athletes are the best examples of people who persevere to become the best of the best....