Persitence

To achieve the outcome we desire, we must be persistent in our effort. W. E. Hickson said it best with the all too familiar quote: “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.”

In the above video clip, you see me trying to successfully perform a parkour movement known as a kong-precision (king kong vault to a precision landing). I knew what I wanted to do. I was confident that I possessed the physical strength and ability to perform the movement, thanks to hundreds of hours of training. So why did it take so many attempts to finally do it?

There can be many “obstacles” that get in the way of achieving what we want; both internal and external. In this particular example, the main block to my success was internal–the block of fear.

Fear of physical injury. Fear of failure. Fear of disappointment. I was by myself at the time, so fear of embarrassment was not a factor, but it commonly is when other people are present.

Had I attempted this movement a few years before, another big obstacle would have been lack of skill and physical strength, so I would not have achieved success in just one training session as shown in this video. But it is by being persistent in my training over the course of several years that I have arrived at my current skill level in parkour.

The same goes for everything in which I am or have been involved: breakdance, snowboarding, rock climbing, piano, school, relationships, religion, employment, learning a foreign language, etc.. Persistence has been a key factor to achieving any level of success in all of these areas.

The path to recovery from addiction has been no exception. I have failed over and over and over again. Every time I did not succeed at resisting an urge to use–every time I managed my emotions in an unhealthy way–I just tried, tried, tried again. And still today if I ever feel like I am starting down a slippery slope, I don’t just give up and give in to my addiction, but I continue to be persistent in recovery every day of my life.

I am and will be persistent every day of my life because that is what it takes to be successful. No matter how many times you fall short of a goal, keep trying. You have not failed until you have stopped trying. No matter what it is you want in life–whether it is to develop a skill like parkour or to break free from an addiction–“try, try, try again” and continue trying. Be persistent. You CAN do it!