The letter of the week is “P”, so I will talk about PERSEVERANCE and PERSISTENCE.
“Growing is like running a 26-mile marathon. If we give up on the 24th mile, we will go through life never knowing what if feels like to finish the race.”
I know of many people who didn’t complete something in their lives that they meant to do, but never went back to finish. I also know of some who, while interrupted by events in their life, returned to finish the job in their late 30’s or early 40’s. Others made excuses as to why they couldn’t do so.
We all have highs and lows in our life, sometimes from our own making. I know I did.
After working in the retail world for a few years, I became disillusioned with what there was to offer. So, when I was about 27, I started studying law while working full time and supporting three children. A few years later, I moved from the San Fernando Valley to the East Bay area of San Francisco, where I went to work for Atari (the original video game people). That interrupted my studies.
After a few years, I started studying law again, but alas, another life changing event occurred and again I was interrupted. A number of years came and went and, not wanting to work for someone else, I started selling real estate. I was doing well and in 1999 I was approached with an offer to go to work for an online real estate start-up called ZipRealty.com. I received a salary, bonuses and medical benefits, plus regular hours.
I decided to find out what I had to do in order to qualify to take the California Bar Exam, and found out that I needed less than 2 semesters to be able to sit for the Exam. So, I headed back to school in the evenings and finished those remaining classes. I left my job in January of 2001 to study and prepare for the Bar Exam. The tough part was that I had to re-learn and update myself on areas of the law that, in some cases, I had not studied for 20 years. I diligently prepared for 6 weeks, and on the last Tuesday of February, at the young age of 52, I began the three-day rigorous California Bar Exam. On the Friday before Memorial Day I learned that I had joined the 39% who successfully passed the Exam.
I opened my own practice, and then continued studying for another two years to obtain my LLM degree (Master’s in Law) in the area of taxation.
Any man can see further than he can reach, but that doesn’t mean he should stop reaching. Any great achievement is preceded by many difficulties and many lessons; great achievements are not possible without them.
The only one who can keep you from persevering is the one you see in the mirror every day.
