Sitting in uncertainty and other uncomfortable things

See also: self-forgiveness and releasing control.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the word persistence.

On one hand, it’s a universally-accepted marker of excellence. As admirable as it is aspirational, we could all achieve our dreams if we were disciplined enough to persist. It’s elite athletes training relentlessly to win gold. It’s humans overcoming adverse circumstances to achieve remarkable, inspiring, life-improving, positively-impacting things. You know the ones.

But that other hand is gripping with white-knuckled obsession. Which may still be admirable, absolutely, but it’s also all-consuming – to a fault. If we’re so preoccupied by the pursuit of potential ‘greatness’ in future – by persisting – don’t we miss the magic of our present?

There’s a fine line, I suppose, between persistence as a virtue – of resilience, of trust – and persistence as a trap – a socially-celebrated mask for avoiding facing things we may need to face, from walking away from things that are better left behind us.