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"Backtrack, do it again..."
All these years and I thought Steely Dan was singing, "Backtrack, do it again- Wheels turnin' round and round" but it turns out it's "Back JACK, do it again." Since I've never been one to let the truth stand in the way of a good story or a life theme song, I'm keeping "Backtrack" as my official perseverence anthem.I'm singing it now and here's why: I can be such a wimpy baby quitter when confronted with a difficult task. For "difficult" read: anything challenging, new or unable to be completed in a day. There comes a time in everyone's life when new tools are needed. This fall, I've been spending lots of time in life's workshop trying to find some perseverence. Well, mostly crawling on the floor trying to paste together the fragments and bits of my old "Patience" toolkit with extremely limited success. I need more than patience, I need the guts and grit necessary to keep going amidst no apparent success. I need perseverence. I wish positive character attributes were easier to get. If there were a Sears store for the Psyche, I would be a preferred customer. NOT even kidding.Maybe you'll relate to some of the following projects that came to a complete standstill until I found some perseverence:
1. New Skill Leaving Appleworks for Photoshop has been tough. In fact, don't tell Photoshop, but I'm still seeing Appleworks for all sorts of reasons. Yes, Appleworks knows there's no future for us - when I'm selecting an object, AWks itself admits: "This area too complicated". How can I leave someone so honest, so direct, so, so.....vulnerable? Nonetheless, I have to leave. My screen printer insists on it as does every design partner, webmaster or breathing human. But, man is it hard. I am two days behind deadline for a design and it's not because I haven't been working steadily. It's just that learning something this big and new takes time. There are no shortcuts. Even my prayer and meditation times seem to tell me that God promised not to leave me or forsake me. He didn't promise to wiggle His nose like Samantha Stevens to magically implant knowledge into my brain and sheaves of freshly minted graphics in my outbox. Persevere. It will be worth it. It will produce a sense of accomplishment and the rush of euphoria that results from a job well done.
2. Deeper Relationships I love my family to bits. My mom is my hero, yet I recently have neglected to do a few simple things that she's told me help her feel valued. Call her for a coffee date. Call her at all, for pete's sake. Personal concerns have crowded out simple relationship maintenance that benefits mother and daughter. Coffee last week with my bright, brainy Democrat mother was an utter delight - kept me on my toes, too. A bit of time away from me,me,me produced, peace, perspective, and intimacy. Persevere. Remember to keep loving the ones we take for granted.
3.Resolved Identity Crisis Sending son #2 off to university and my baby girl to high school sent me into a tailspin. My days of hands-on parenting were over. No longer the center of their universe, I had to teach myself a new way to parent.It was hard. I didn't want to do it. I wanted my son to come back. I wanted my daughters underfoot, vying for my time and attention. This version of motherhood was impossible. I lived in denial until I realized that I was being a bit intrusive, clingy and annoying. Sidenote: I shouldn't say, "I realized" I should say I was informed that I was intrusive, clingy and annoying...What ensued was weeks of crying and saying, "What's the point? They don't need me for anything except cash and rides....blah." That's where the peverence was needed. Did I want to become a guilt producing mommy who lived in the past grieving for days goneby? A mom who had an air of disappointment and unmet expectations around her whenever her kids were around? "You never call, I get no attention, What do you care? Why don't you go off to that fancy-schmancy high school of yours and ask the big smart friends you spend all your time with...." Yikes. I'd hate to be around me then. So, am I going to run true to type and be a big wimpy quitter? NO! I'm going to hammer out a new relationship with each of these twerps I love so much. I will try to keep my expectations low, my hopes high, my arms open and my mouth shut.
4. Physical Fitness Self explanatory. I'm right there with ya.
Ask your Creator to help you find some perseverence daily. You'll need it to keep those "wheels turnin' round and round"...
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Inspiration 
Jane 
This site is pretty much amazing. I'm excited for you because I know you'll do really well with this. How is the new realtionship-building with your daughters going? They love you! 
You amaze me! 