Grit. Persistence. Success.
It was 4:30am and my alarm had just woken me up. Before 2021, I don’t think I had the will to wake up as early as that. I moved to Enugu for NYSC that year and I had to wake up by 4:30am every week day for eleven months. What did they say about making a habit out of something if done consistently for 21 days? Mine was for a whole eleven months. I was disciplined to the very core.
The first thing I do after waking up is to either pray, study God’s Word or listen to sounds to help my alertness. I hardly make social media the first point of call for the day. However, this fateful Monday was different. I scrolled through Twitter and saw a video of Tobi Amusan’s 100m hurdles win. A world record win at that. My heart was immediately filled with utmost excitement.
Before that day, I had never heard of Tobi Amusan. I knew Ese Brume quite well especially after she won one of Nigeria’s two medals at the Olympics last year. But not Tobi Amusan. So, where did she come from?
Apparently, she did not suddenly appear on the scene. Her tweets from 2016 clearly show it.
First this
And then, this.
Persistence is the ability to go on resolutely in spite of every opposition. Every successful person will attribute their willingness to persist in the face of challenges as key to their success. The reason why people succeed is because they first failed.
………….I will Persist until I SUCCEED- Oluwatobiloba Amusan
A day before her victory, I listened to Pastor Emmanuel Iren preach on Confidence in Purpose and he emphasized the importance of at least, making an attempt. In his words, it is better to try and fail than not try at all. I have had many failures in life but I have simply refused to give in to them. I have seen what it means to persevere and keep trying till a breakthrough comes.
Quite a number of people try and never try again. The reality is that you’re not going to get it all right in your first attempt but your willingness to learn from previous attempts and make further attempts will definitely help you to compound your efforts into success.
Whenever there’s a task ahead of you to do, know that God has given you the strength to accomplish it regardless of your limitations. You can plod and you can persevere. You can fail and you can succeed again. So, think of whatever story like that of Tobi Amusan that gives you the confidence that you can, through grit and persistence be successful at a cause. Whether it’s the story of the gentile woman who persisted until Jesus healed her daughter or the widow who persisted until justice was served to her oppressors.
It could even be Real Madrid’s comeback win against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions league semifinal back in May or President Muhammadu Buhari’s grit to contest for the office of the president for the fourth time in 2015 after losing thrice previously (that’s some grit if you ask me) or even one of your previous efforts of persistence and perseverance that has now become history.
If the goal is to be the best, you’ll have to keep trying and very soon, your success will be evident.
P.S- I’ve really enjoyed seeing Nigeria perform well at the ongoing commonwealth games in Birmingham. Sitting comfortably at sixth on the medal table with thirty medals so far is a huge feat. I honestly feel like it shouldn’t end. But while it’s still on, I look forward to seeing Nigeria rake in more medals in the concluding events. Go go, Team Nigeria!!
Till another time,
Love and Light.
