“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t” – NFL legend, Jerry Rice
Persistence is a rare quality in people today. We want things now. We want them with little effort. We want others to do things for us. When we don’t get what we want, immediately, we give up or we move on try the next easiest thing.
For the past 10 days, I have had a little spider making her home under my verandah outside my front door. And every morning for the past 10 days, I’ve had to duck under her web to avoid getting a face full of spider netting. I must admit I have had to break one of her anchor points or two so that I can walk past as it and it has been freaking me out and when it’s caught me off guard. If you had walked past at the right time, you might have seen me do a little crazy dance or two trying to get the web off my head.
But the longer I’ve left her there, the more incredible her constructions have become. Each night she meticulously remakes her web, neater and more spectacular than before. She patiently builds and rebuilds her trap, time and time again, persistent in the extreme for such a tiny creature. She needs to eat. In order to eat, she needs to make a web. In order to make a web that will be successful, she needs to ensure it is constructed perfectly. That means taking down yesterday’s effort and starting again today.
This is what’s required. No other spider is going to do it for her.
I’m sure she’s not back in her nest bitching about how the wind has messed up her efforts during the day. I’m sure she’s not whining to her spider buddies about how the human living in the house just broke one of the anchor points. I’m sure she’s not sulking in the corner because no-one will help her. She just gets on with it. She knows what needs to be done and she does it. When it’s not right, she re-does it.
She is persistent, day after day, refusing to give up. And she doesn’t complain.
I think we can all learn a lesson in persistence from my little 8 legged friend.