Have you heard of the art of letting go? Well this isn’t that. This is the art of hanging on. About being persistent. Being patient. Keeping promises and sometimes rooting for the underdog.
Persistence
Have you ever done a dead man’s hang from a bar? If you haven’t you should try it. Hold on for as long as you can. You’ll drop down eventually. Shake off your arms. Take some rest. Try it again. And again. And again. I’m pretty certain that one of those attempts will have lasted longer than the first time. Did you suddenly become stronger? Probably not. More likely you gave yourself a mental boost on being able to hold on for that much longer, which at the end is all about persistence.
Patient
It’s easy to get frustrated, flustered and provoked when something hasn’t happened as quickly as we reasonably expected it to. Take ordering food for an example h if we haven’t got it in a timely manner, we lose our patience and hurtful words are exchanged. But if we continue to be reasonably patient, that patience will have more impact then the words exchanged out of frustration. With patience comes understanding. Until the day comes when we are ruled by robots, we have to understand that we are all just human beings. In my opinion, understanding that is the key to being more patient and less frustrated.
Promises
We are sometimes given promises. Other times we give a promise. Respect the latter and understand the former. When someone gives you a promise, take it for granted. If it is a genuine promise, we should find the power to hang on until they deliver. If we give our own promise then deliver. Even if it gets more difficult, hang on. Yes, sometimes the result delivered may not be what we hoped but hang on and deliver on that promise.
Underdogs
Ever watch any kind of sporting match and see a team completely on the back-foot? How many times have we heard of that Cinderella story where great odds are overcome? Probably not as much as the other way around but the rarity only makes it more special and worth hanging onto.
At times we need to let go. But there are times when we also need to hang on.
