Intro

The ability to persevere in hard times and keep a cool head is one of the most important keys to success. You will encounter shitty and dangerous conditions on your journey to self-fulfillment, but persevering is what will ultimately decide the outcome. This is how my father taught me about perseverance

Body

It was a hot summer day, I was 12 and playing BB guns with my younger brother. My dad was sunbathing on the porch, when I accidentally shot my brother in the eye. He started crying loudly, the little kid that he was, which alerted my father. He jumped from his chair and got his thin elastic twig for 'behaviour correction'. When he hit you with it, it didn't leave injuries, but it did burn a lot and would make a child cry. He never used it lightly or out of anger, only when he needed to teach us a lesson. At that time, the process of beating kids when they did stupid shit was normal in my country, and I'd argue it's healthy if applied in a controlled manner.

Anyway, back to the story. When I saw him pick the twig up, I knew I had two choices: either fall on the ground, surrender and endure the punishment, or outrun him. And run I did. You see, knew my dad had arythmia and that he probably couldn't run for very long. I darted for the wheat field, and ran with my tail between my legs.

I would look back every few seconds and there he was, jogging after me at a steady pace. After about 5 minutes of this chase, I started slowing down. I could hear my dad behind me telling:"Don't stop. Don't give up. If you give up and lay there, you'll get a helluva beating". I was surprised how nonchalant he sounded.

After about 2 minutes, I finally gave up, and fell on the grass breathing like a pump. My father arrived, cold-blooded and non emotional smacked me with his twig several times, and it burnt enough for me to make tears. What he said next to me hasn't left me to this day, many years after.

He said, with a concerned,.loving tone: "Listen son, the way this world works, is that if you give up, you'll be trampled. Imagine, if that was somebody else chasing you, they wouldn't have mercy, they wouldn't listen to excuses. They would beat you bloody and kill you. So next time, make the decision: What is better, to persevere and be tired after, or to just give up and get trampled?"