Perseverance. That’s Lesson #3 from things I learned from my dad. He taught me to never give up even when:
- it starts getting too hard
- it starts getting too frustrating
- it starts getting boring
- it just doesn’t make sense
- the grass looks greener on the other side
Now that doesn’t mean he didn’t encourage me to take risks and go out on a limb a bit. He’s one of the driving forces and biggest supporters for me starting my own clinic. What he did teach that if you are heading in the right direction, keep doing that direction no matter the current circumstance. He taught me to persevere through the storm. My dad has weathered some storms and trials and he knows a thing or two about perseverance, so I’d be remiss to not heed this advice.
If I started a project, I needed to complete the project. If I made a commitment to someone, I needed to keep that commitment. If I said I would do something, I needed to persevere to the end. What an important life lesson. When the baby is crying and the boys are fighting and it seems too hard to raise kids it never crosses my mind to just walk out of the situation. Why? The lesson of perseverance. When I was starting a new clinic in a community full of chiropractors, but I knew I had something different to offer, perseverance paid off. When I sit in my office bombarded by all the mandatory minutia of the insurance world for patient documentation and it gets really boring, I have to remind myself of the lesson in perseverance.
There are things I don’t consider leaving because of dad’s lesson on perseverance. I’m committed to my wife, my kids and my God and if the path ever gets too hard, frustrating, boring, or frightening I won’t quit because of dad’s lesson on persevering.
Thanks dad!
