Perseverance…the key to success or...?

“The struggle of the mind to keep itself free from every sort of bondage"
Gardner Murphy

We are taught that perseverance wins the ribbon...and taught rightly so, truly the merits of perseverance are beyond reproach,… but what happens when perseverance becomes the goal….is it possible that we so greatly value perseverance that we turn a blind eye as conditions change and other more viable options appear.

It is said that if a dog spends hours locating and digging for a buried bone and at the very moment his nose discovers its scent and he knows he is minutes away from sinking his teeth into it, someone offers him a different bone… with tail wagging he will happily accept the new bone and walk away from his labors.
Would we...if we have been arduously struggling with a task and as we arrive at the point where we know completion is near …if we are given the option of finishing on our own or being handed the outcome...what would we choose?
For many of us we would choose to finish …in that case have we traded the original goal of a specific outcome for the goal of finishing what we have begun.

That being said ..is perseverance a curse?…a hindrance? ..hardly, the absents of perseverance can guarantee failure at a high rate. Perseverance equates success… isn‘t that the mantra we have practiced, from the beginning we are taught perseverance is a quality found in the most successful, it is the quality we strive to incorporate in all of our challenges. However… is it possible, that cloaked in a cape of perseverance we could be stifling other options…failing to utilize newly acquired information that could positively alter our direction or change our result?

The concern is perseverance for perseverance sake and the self imposed blinders we wear to aid us in keeping our attentions on task, can also prevent us from see other viable options available in achieving our goals... or perhaps even a new ...more suitable goal.

The question to ask is... when a new vision/direction/option comes into play…how do we discern if it is merely a distraction or in fact a truly better alternative?

It is trust …trust, clarity and an open mind …that should guide and govern our productivity and plans. As we, the architect of the plan it is incumbent on us to continuously evaluate the methods and appropriateness of the plan, if we find, thru our diligence, or others, a better way…a different way, we must not be afraid to shift gears…and we certainly should not allow the feeling of failure to dictate our action…for the success of one idea is often borne of the fruits from failure of another.