How to Keep Positively Persistent Essay Example

“A dream is a wish your heart makes”, Cinderella(1950). Some people wait for a star to come around at the very moment they are down on their luck. Others, instead of this, go out and make their dreams happen. Perseverance(as defined by Dictionary.com) is, “steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.” I personally agree with this definition and feel like it is the best portrayal of the word that I have seen. It means working toward your goals, and never giving up until you have achieved them. Once you have achieved them, you have to keep persevering, and moving toward fresh, unique ideas. It’s a never-ending cycle that we can never escape.

“That girl in the movie has so much perseverance to face that monster!”, next time you hear this, you can inform your friend that they are wrong. While that character may have displayed traits of fearlessness, they did not display perseverance. If you are fearless, this does not make you persistent. This trait helps a lot, but being persistent means you can be fearful sometimes, but you are working through that fear to achieve something that you really want. Odysseus, while he is persistent, he is not fearless. He knows what he is doing, but that does not mean he is without fear. Sometimes, these two works can be related to one another, but like you’ll see soon, sometimes they aren’t related at all. 

She stands there. A softball in hand, shoulder throbbing, and heart beating. I was never really into sports, but my sister has always been really good at sports. I can see just how persistent she is to do everything to the best of her abilities. She has a deep love for softball, and won’t let anything get in her way. One time I recall her being determined to pitch past a certain speed, and she just couldn’t do it. After weeks of practice, pitching out in the backyard with my dad in the cold April weather, and talking about it nonstop. She went to her pitching lesson and did it. We were all so proud of her, and how determined and persistent she was. Every day, I can see her practicing and wanting to get better and improve, and one day I know she’ll be one of the best softball players in the whole world. 

Although many people persevere through many obstacles,  one of my favorite cases of perseverance is the story of Walt Disney. Many people know about Walt Disney, he did create one of the largest companies of all time, but most don’t really know of his story. Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois. After moving around quite a lot as a child, he went to the Academy of Fine Arts and later started his career as a “cartoonist making animated film advertisements”(“Disney, Walt”). How he went from just a man who loved cartoons to the creator of a multi-million dollar company is insane! Once the Disney company was established in 1928, he went on to break many monumental achievements in the film industry.

These include Steamboat Willie(initiated the concept of making a separate cartoon for each animated movement, and Disney's first go at using sound in an animated short) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(the first fully animated movie, which took three years to complete)(“Disney, Walt”). Already a decent sized company, Walt had the idea for a grand theme park. “On July 17, 1965, Walt Disney welcomed thousands of invited guests and gatecrashers to the preview of the first Disneyland …. In Anaheim, California.”(“Happy 60th, Disneyland!”). This theme park was a huge success and the Disney company is very prominent in pop culture and our lives till this day, even though Walt himself died in 1966(“Disney, Walt”). It’s a true perseverance story, that shows that if you work hard enough and persist on your dreams can come true. 

To conclude, being persistent and persevering is a very difficult task. A task that takes fearlessness, but that is not the same as fearlessness. This trait is shown in high-ranking celebrities and everyday people. Everyone perseveres through something in their lifetime, and all you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust.