Perseverance

I have been reading the Book of Job this week and, naturally, thinking about perseverance.  Job is one of the greatest example of long-suffering because he was richly blessed and then lost it all–to the point that even his friends assumed that he had sinned and should therefore curse God and die.  Job endured and was blessed beyond what he had lost.

In any case, I would have to say that perseverance is one of the secrets to finding the best out of life.  In our world of microwave ovens, instant messaging, and twitter, I believe we are losing this special trait of diligent effort.  Don’t give up just because a task is difficult–keep at it, and eventually you will accomplish what you desire.  Besides, I believe that the best things in life take effort and work.  I love the Pres. Monsonism (I’ve heard him quote it in at least a couple different talks, though I can’t seem to find the author):

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories, after awhile.

As I was pondering this idea, I was reminded of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.  Elder Wirthlin’s final General Conference talk taught us how to endure successfully.  He called the talk “Come What May and Love It” and in it he spoke about how we need to find joy in life, no matter what happens.  He gave us a few suggestions: learn to laugh, keep an eternal perspective, remember that God is just and will compensate the faithful for every loss, and trust in God and His Son.  I am grateful for the wisdom this great leader shared with us at the end of his 91 years.  For me, his legacy will be this lesson on how to endure well.

It seems like we have a lot of words that deal with this topic, as I list them here, take a moment and think about what each word means to you.  Read each word, try to think for a moment what it means to you, and then try to differentiate it from the others.  Also consider how these words are related:

• Perseverance
• Endurance
• Stick-to-it-ive-ness (a real word, I promise, sometimes spelled sticktoitiveness)
• Tenacity
• Courage
• Persistence
• Long-suffering
• Diligence (one of my favorite words…just ask my wife)
• Assiduity

So what did you discover?  Are these words distinct enough from each other?  I would really like to read your comments–share with me what you think.