Persistence - The key to sucess

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That old chestnut of a saying has been knocking about for years. We have all heard it before. How many, I wonder actually believe it though? How many, after having tasted a temporary defeat would pick their self up and try again?
A vital characteristic of success is persistence. The spirit of perseverance separates the winners from the losers. Losers give up. Winners never give up, until the prize is won. They see it right through to the end. Napoleon Hill said "A quitter never wins and a winner never quits".
If you have set yourself a goal, that's good, most people do not. If you have started making steps towards the realisation of that goal, that's even better! However, experience shows that human beings are good starters but poor finishers. Now that you have begun, you will discover that with any worthwhile aim or goal, you can expect to come up against obstacles, blocking you from your desired destination. It is at this crossroads you will determine your mediocrity or greatness. It rests entirely upon YOU to smash these barriers down. For some the obstacles seem too insurmountable, it's much easier to give up. Others find that by enduring, the problems are solved and the road to success is clear again.
Every cloud has a silver lining. Temporary failures do not have to be viewed as negative, but positively by knowing that trial and error is leading you closer to finding the correct solution. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the incandescent electric light bulb 'failed' 10,000 times before getting it right. With each failure his attitude was one of victory, realising that every time he failed he had succeeded in finding another way it did not work, until he won at last. Today we all enjoy the benefits of the light bulb, the fruit of a man who refused to give up.
Persistence is an attitude. It is not merely one act of courage and you have passed the test. It is usually relentlessly ongoing. The pathway to your dreams will most likely have many challenges along its route, of all shapes and sizes. Your attitude towards them all should be, that your will to succeed is far greater than them all. No matter what form an obstacle may take, you will always find a way to go through, over or around it. Where there is a will there IS a way.
The race of life is rarely a 100m sprint. It's more often than not, long distance and full of hurdles, a steeplechase. Athletes who take part in this event, are built upon endurance and stamina, they keep on going right until the finish line. I wonder how many people have wasted dreams because they didn't have the energy to make it to the finish line or jump that final hurdle. There are probably millions of untapped ideas which never saw the light of day, due to lack of persistence.
Napoleon Hill said "People are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for persistence. The persistent person discovers that 'Old man failure' finally becomes tired and goes away. Failure cannot cope with persistence".
It doesn't matter whether the difficulty is one big problem, that takes many attempts to vanquish or if it involves conquering a series of smaller setbacks. Most likely it will be a combination of various challenges, yet the antidote is the same, persistence. Just good old fashioned grit and determination. Press forward and never give up, if you keep on trying you will certainly reach the light at the end of the tunnel