Persistence pays Positively!

Recently received the following e-mail (with names changed) from some friends working in the jungle of a foreign land: “We think that Benito is one of the “characters” of our area. She is a solidly built 5 year old who lives about 50 metres from our house. Not infrequently we hear her voice calling us to come to the window and buy some tomatoes or beans that she is holding up for us to see. “Pey! Pey! Ne nyenrong ea tomatoö? Ere? Ere? Ne nyenrong? Ere?” (Pey! Pey! Do you want some tomatoes? Do you? Do you? Do you want some? Do you?) It’s a little annoying for Pey, sometimes if she is in the process of trying to send emails or if she is giving her child instructions for his school work. But until Benito gets the attention she requires, the hounding continues. And that’s not to say that it ceases if Pey responds with a, “Sorry, not today!” Benito sometimes won’t take no for an answer. “Nyenrong, ere? Ere?” (Do you want some? Do you? Do you?) To be fair, sometimes her unwavering persistence is due to the fact that her ears are frequently filled with pus and she can’t hear the response that Pey is making. But on other occasions she is out to make a sale. Unperturbed by an initial rejection, she sometimes reappears at the window a couple of hours later calling out, “Pey! Pey! Tomatoö, nyenrong? Ere? Ere? … nyenrong, ere?” If she fails to make the sale on this second occasion then the same tomatoes may reappear at the window on the following day, or even on the one after that!”

Although Benito may be a bit of a pain at times for our friends, one can’t help but admire her persistence and even wish for a bit more of her persistence for oneself at times. Well, at least I can’t!

What about you? Do you have this persistence in your life? Not to the point of being a nuisance and a pain to others, but to the point of at least seeing through to the end those things that you have embarked upon? Or do you give up at the first hurdle? Persistence may not always pay but it is a good habit to cultivate at times isn’t it? What say you?