Finding Strength in Perseverance: Lessons from Margaret Wheatley

“It is never too late to be brave,” says Margaret J. Wheatley in Perseverance, BK, 2010, p. 25.

Today we hear from a most helpful author. I will buy this little book and consider myself fortunate. If I’ve ever envied (more later on envy) an author, it is for writing this book. Margaret Wheatley shares great words in diamond-sharp phrases with no wasted syllables. I can almost feel her caring love.

“Anger in any form only makes us blind.” (p. 35)
“Urgency leads nowhere except into the wilderness of aggression and failure. It doesn’t serve our cause. It doesn’t serve anything.” (p. 37)
“Looking reality in the eye is an interesting experience.” (p. 41)
“We don’t have to take our emotions so seriously. We don’t have to act on them. We don’t have to give them so much power over us… Emotions come and go—this is our human experience. If we wait a moment, if we pause and don’t act right away, this too will pass.” (p. 45)
“Humility and curiosity are what shift us to center. Just by being curious, we move toward the middle ground, with its fertile promise of new ideas and new relationships.” (p. 47)
“Everything changes. Good times don’t last forever. And neither do bad ones. Whatever is happening now, good or bad, is giving birth to the next state.” (p. 49)

It’s time for the steadfast people to be the minority. The world always and only changes from the actions and commitment of a “small group of dedicated people,” as sociologist Margaret Mead stated so clearly years ago. Instead of being distracted by all the unsteadfast ones, we need to actively search for each other and expect we’ll find us. (p. 55)

“Fear is simple evidence that we’re human.… Paradoxically, the more we engage directly with it, the less fearful it becomes.… And all because we were willing to develop a relationship with what, at first, appeared so frightening.” (p. 71)
“Jealousy is such a waste of a good human heart.” (p. 75)

[Envy (jealousy) shows me what I want. I once wrote a poem with that same last line; won a first prize.]

“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” — Lily Tomlin, Comedienne/Author (p. 76)
“We’re doing the work because we’re doing the work.” (p. 95)
“What would it feel like to surrender to the rhythms and dynamics of life? What would it feel like to realize that we don’t really have a choice here—we can either participate with life, or resist it and drive ourselves to exhaustion and failure.” (p. 117)
“Perseverance is a choice. It’s not a simple, one-time choice. It’s a daily one. There’s never a final decision.” (p. 59)

And for today’s final thoughts: I’ve been learning from and enjoying Margaret J. Wheatley’s Who Do We Choose To Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity, BK, 2017.