Persistence

Not unlike many of our readers, for the past several months, we’ve been presented with some pretty serious challenges which have required us to think and explore beyond the norm. For the most part, humanity has stepped up and helped us find solutions to the problems that were trying to block our path through the maze. Isn’t that who we are as a species? Our minds love solving problems. So, when you are presented with serious challenges, how do you respond?

Troubling issues have been confronting us since the dawn of civilization, and the power to overcome them has been celebrated in song and story almost from the beginning of time. We, as humans, are inveterate storytellers. In fact, studies reveal that most people learn best, and remember the most, when stories provide the foundation.

When reading an article the other day, I was reminded of my English Literature class studying The Iliad and The Odyssey, works widely credited to Homer, the ancient Greek poet. In one of the oldest surviving works of Literature (circa 8th century BC), he essentially talks about the power of optimism when it comes to finding solutions. The epic poem’s hero Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, is worried that his father will never come home after the Trojan War. But Pallas Athene, the heroine or the story, gently reassures him by saying, “Your father will not be exiled much longer...trust Odysseus to get free. He always finds a way.”

This is a good description of problem solvers with are always thinking of options to resolve an issue. Great inventors like Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison were option thinkers as well. No matter how tough the problem is, no matter how great the odds, the option thinker always believes there is a solution. They keep trying, experimenting, and looking - it’s easy to think of Einstein and Edison as excellent examples. Eventually, with persistence, their efforts bear fruit. They refused to give up when things got tough. Life sometimes seems the darkest before dawn.

In Homer’s poem, Odysseus finally makes it home, in time to drive away Penelope’s suitors who have invaded their home, assuming Odysseus is dead. Odysseus is successful in reuniting with his family. It is one of the great homecoming scenes in all of literature.

So, what do you tell yourself when you are confronted with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle? What do you say when you have been knocked down by the challenges of life and cannot break through? Many of us often look for excuses or someone or something to blame. Fight off the urge to place blame. Instead of falling silent in defect and depression, why not remember Homer’s hero, Odysseus, and tell yourself, “This is an answer to this situation. There is a solution waiting for the right problem to solve. No matter the obstacles, I will find a way.” Become an option-thinker and find success.