I’m always interested in knowing what other people have going on in their lives besides work. What takes up the time in their day once they get home? What interests do they have? Is it family, tinkering with cars, cooking new recipes, or crafting away with colorful projects?

Furthermore, I wonder, is their craft easy, or do they have to put some work into it?

We all know the definition of the word persistence, even if we don’t enjoy enduring its wrath. My view of persistence is staying true to your goal even if every step has a wicked turn.

One of my friends, Lisa, films, and posts YouTube videos (Coping with Yarn) about her passion for everything to do with yarn. I admire how she pushes on to post upbeat, fun videos each week. Even though she didn’t have prior filming experience before she started, she learned how to set up her videos and upload them. This amazes this non-techy brain of mine.

There was one weekend I wanted to give up on my writing dream. Here are only a few of the roadblocks I encountered:

• I wanted my cover ‘just right,’ and no matter how I described my vision, it still wasn’t coming out correctly. 
• Formatting my novel was turning into a nightmare with Word not understanding my requests, including that page numbers don’t belong on the chapter pages. 
• No matter which combination of names I put on my W-9 tax pages on Amazon and Draft 2 Digital, it wouldn’t accept. 

Why was I running into all of these problems? How come none of the tasks I was trying to complete wouldn’t run smoothly?

I took a couple of days off in an attempt to gather my patience, collect my thoughts, and try again. Did I belly back up to my computer and calmly figure everything out? Nope. However, I certainly wasn’t able to ignore the nagging voice in my head to keep going no matter how difficult it became.

After listening to me whine for a few days, my husband stepped in and helped me fill out the tax forms correctly (and easily, might I add with a grumble). 

I was able to dial into my exact Word problem and find a tutorial. It for sure wasn’t an intuitive solution, but at the same time, the fix wasn’t absurdly difficult. The best part is that now I have a template for my future novels!

Things (finally!) started going my way and my excitement of publishing my first novel was reignited. I could have easily given in to my frustrations and given up. The drive to reach my goals pushed me forward. Also, knowing that so many people have walked this path before me helped me feel that the barriers were indeed conquerable.

These woes reminded me of watching my husband complete one of the MANY projects or repairs he’s completed over the years. Whether he’s fixing a car, replacing a part in the washing machine, or building a piece of furniture, he inevitably runs into problems. Even if something doesn’t readily loosen, fit in the tiny spaces he works in, or even work correctly the first time, he NEVER gives up! I admire this persistence and am happy to say that I can boast this same type of grit.

What does persistence mean to you? Do you have a project that you love to do but you have to work hard at?