The Power of Persistence

I went recently to see the movie "The Pursuit of Happiness." If you haven't seen it, please go, it is great. It could be the story of so many of us and it is about some of the most important qualities we need in order to succeed and be happy.

It begins with a dream... well it is a dream we all have... to be happy... a good life... but for some people, maybe someone you know, maybe you, it seems that things do not really work out, and difficulties keep coming up.

Maybe you have experienced a difficult beginning in life, and you feel this is still preventing you from being the best you can be, and you feel disadvantaged, scarred. Or maybe you have experienced in the course of your life pain, redundancy, loss, separation, or else, and you feel that your energy is depleted.

And what happens to many of us after a while that we keep 'struggling', the mind might begin to become negative and there might be the temptation to give in to difficulties. And maybe we start looking at other people, at people who are happier or more successful than us and we feel envious... but this does not help.

What helps instead is looking for successful people who have beaten the odds, who have overcome maybe the same past, maybe the same problems, and achieved what you want to achieve, and learn from them, because if you apply to your life, remaining true to yourself, what they have done, you will get where they are and have what they have, happiness and success. It is simply a question of learning their strategies. And one of the qualities you will see in all of these people, and you will see also in the movie, is the tenacity, the determination, the persistence to never ever give up, no matter what, and to keep following your dreams.

So, once you know your dreams, once you know what you really want, just go for it, and never ever give it up. Be prepared to put in a lot of effort, because that is the price you need to pay at the beginning for having it all. And once you have made a start everything will become much easier.

Another very important thing you need to do is have faith. There is such an extraordinary power within you that wants the very best for you; that wants you to be well and be happy; that wants you to have in your life all the love you desire and deserve; that wants you to be successful; that wants you to create and live the life of your dreams.

And once you know what this power is, you will be able to heal yourself, to create, attract and manifest in your life anything that you truly want. But you need to know how to use it properly, because otherwise it simply creates what you do not want.

And then you will see that actually what you thought of as disadvantages, the difficulties in your life, have become your advantage, because they have enabled you to be the best you can be; they have enabled you to achieve what some people only dream of. But in order to get there, you need never ever to give up. You need to keep going even when the going gets tough, because you are made of strong stuff.

I know you are certainly not a quitter, you are a winner, and I have the certainty you will be able to create and achieve whatever it is that you truly want. It is just a question of learning how the Laws of the Universe really work and you are already there. And you are going to make of your life a true masterpiece that reflects who you really are.

Copyright © Piercarla Garusi 2007 - All rights reserved.

Piercarla Garusi is a Life Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, Hypnotic Practitioner, Director of PG Coaching Ltd. She is passionate about helping you be well, connect with your soul, be the extraordinary person you truly are, develop your spirituality and create a life that makes you truly happy. For more information please visit: PG Coaching, or email.

The Window (Author unknown)

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:
The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.