Character Traits

No one likes to be disappointed. No one wants to fail. Sometimes it seems a lot easier to give up than to keep working on a project. Maybe math is really hard, or you can’t catch a ball no matter how hard you try, or you don’t know how to make friends. You may think you’re the only one that can’t succeed or doesn’t fit in. That isn’t true.

Some of the most famous people we know about were told they were stupid or ugly or had no talent or imagination. People like Walt Disney, Dr. Seuss, Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan, and the Beetles failed sometime. They were hurt sometime. If they had stopped because it was too hard, we wouldn’t even know their names now. They didn’t let anything or anyone stop them from trying. They persisted – they kept trying. Maybe they asked for advice, or changed the way they were working, or spent more time at it, or decided to team up with someone to reach their goals.

We can be just like them. We can all learn Perseverance – to keep trying to do something even though it is difficult, to achieve our goal no matter what. Our parents, teachers, and friends may have felt the same way. We should talk to them, ask for help, or ask them how they succeeded at something that seemed impossible. Remember, the story the “Little Engine That Could” we read a long time ago. If we think we can, and work at it, we will do it.