Work all day. Get home. Feed the kids. Tuck them into bed. "Read me a story, mommy?" "Not tonight, girls. Mommy's tired. Tomorrow." Write and write and write. Go to bed after midnight. Husband wants sex. I want sleep. The next day, the alarm goes off at 6 am. It starts all over.
Everyday, I'm grumpier. Everyday, the kids are whinier. Everyday, the husband is angrier. Life can't go on this way. People can't live like this. It ain't possible. We are limited creatures with needs. We have to be restored. We have to be renewed. Otherwise we fall apart, and our families fall with us. That's why perseverance has to be balanced with focus.
#1 type of Perseverance: Tomorrow Focused.
Perseverance that focuses on the big success is just living for tomorrow. Someday, you'll have the time to exercise. Someday, you'll have the time to spend with your family. Someday, you'll be successful. Then you can live. Then you can spend an afternoon playing ball with the kids. Then you can celebrate the small successes you have today.
What's nasty about this type of perseverance is that you are never satisfied. You never have enough fans. Never make enough money. Never happy with your efforts. You're striving for something unattainable. Something empty.
#2 type of Perseverance: Today Focused.
Perseverance that focuses on daily goals enjoys the process and makes room for life. This week, I wrote a chapter on the Daughter of the Goddess series and worked on the "War" story. Many new people read my work and loved it. The number of blog readers is growing. Slowly and surely, I am getting somewhere. That's something to celebrate. That's a success worth cheering.
I should pat myself on the back and take a day off. Play. Giggle. Read. Eat. Run. Exercise. Dance. I have done something wonderful and I should enjoy it.
Persevere through today. Take care of the work that sits before you today, leaving room for family and play. Tomorrow's work can be done tomorrow.
Don't try to cram tomorrow, next week, next month, into today's work. That is a recipe for failure. The road to disaster.
Tomorrow I will write on the steps to Today-Focused Perseverance.
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Hey, as I recall you were a lot less grumpy after the sex too. ;-)
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