Theme
of Salon Zoom Meeting: Perseverance
©2021
by Richard E. Gordon Duplication prohibited without author’s permission.
Last updated: June
2, 2022
email: rgordon118@tampabay.rr.com
For several questions, I have provided underlined links that will take you to
related online information. Try coming up with your own thoughts first – then
investigate the links or ignore them – whatever you wish.
If the links don’t work with just clicking your mouse arrow, hold down your Ctrl key as you click. Any problems with a link please let me know: rgordon118@tampabay.rr.com
Before our meeting, perhaps take the time to check off the questions and quotations you would e like to comment on. I’ve deliberately included far more questions and quotations than we can cover in our meeting time. Our conversation can just focus on those items you select.
Questions:
1. What is your definition of perseverance?
2. How can a political leader show perseverance?
3. When you have been trying unsuccessfully for a long time to reach a goal, when is it time to give up? When might stubborn perseverance be a character flaw rather than strength?
4. What are examples of perseverance in war time shown by Americans and others facing nearly overwhelming hardships?
5. Can you give an example in your own life when stubborn perseverance led to success? How about when stubborn perseverance led only to regret or disappointment?
6. How can a nation show perseverance?
7. How can you encourage someone to persevere when she/he seems to face overwhelming obstacles?
8. Are only humans capable of perseverance? Are some non-human creatures, in fact, exemplars of perseverance? Maybe even symbols of perseverance?
9. Is it always a good idea to encourage someone to persevere?
10. How would you distinguish stubbornness from perseverance?
11. If you were about ready to give up in pursuing a goal, how might someone encourage you to continue on?
12. How did the Covid-19 tribulations challenge your strength to persevere? What sources gave you the strength to persevere?
13. How might parents (grandparents) encourage children to persevere? How might children who participate in sports strengthen their perseverance? Has the role of cheerleaders anything to do with perseverance? Who were the cheerleaders in your life that helped you to carry on when the obstacles seemed overwhelming?
14. Is perseverance a characteristic you inherit or a trait you develop on your own through personal experience? Is there perhaps a perseverance gene?
15. Can literature and/or movies inspire you to exercise perseverance? Can you name a literary work or movie that did just that – strengthened your perseverance?
16. Make a sketch illustrating your thoughts on perseverance. Then perhaps share it with our group. You might consider a Google image search on perseverance sketches. Or how about perseverance symbols?
Quotations:
1. "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Nelson Mandela
3. "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." -Babe Ruth
4. "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." -Thomas A. Edison
5. "You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated." -Maya Angelou
6. “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." -Winston S. Churchill
7. “A
bend in the road
is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.”
– Helen Keller
8. “The
only guarantee
for failure is to stop trying.”
– John C. Maxwell
9. “Perseverance
is not a long race;
it is many short races one after the other.”
– Walter Elliot
10. “Failure
is only
the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
– Henry Ford
11. “Success
is no accident.
It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all,
love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
– Pele
12. “Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow.”--Mary Anne Radmacher, American author and artist
13. “Fall seven times and stand up eight”.--Japanese Proverb
14. “It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer”--Albert Einstein
15. “A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying” --B.F. Skinner
16. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”--Robert Collier
17. “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”--Newt Gingrich
The End