Passion and Perseverance

This week we covered a few topics that caused me to ponder. One was the concept of finding your passion. Many ask, well how do I find my passion? I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to find it. I have had a few years to work on this and I feel like I have found my passion. I have tried many things over the years, but I always come back to sewing. My thoughts are constantly filled with beautiful fabrics, the next project or how to accomplish something I am stuck on. I lose track of time when I sit with my sewing machine and I get giddy when a project is coming together smoothly and beautifully. I have been caught staging photos of my projects in strange places, sometimes just to embarrass my children. It is something I am good at.

Finding your passion and using it in your work is a common thread each week in my class. When your work is your passion, it doesn’t feel like you are working. It isn’t hard to give back to the community when you are doing what you love.

I have also pondered the characteristic of perseverance. Perseverance is being persistent when “doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” There are many examples of perseverance in my life, my grandmother being one of them. This grandmother passed away before I was born and I have heard many stories from her life. She is someone that I look forward to meeting when my time on earth is finished. Grandma and Grandpa Stark had many struggles in their marriage. Grandpa experienced several injuries that made it hard for him to work. With eight children and limited work, they had very little money. The church building was in a neighboring town and the meetings were spread throughout the week, not the block schedule we have now. Grandpa didn’t go to church with Grandma very often and it was difficult to get eight children there. She and her children were faithfully in attendance each week.

Her example of perseverance is powerful in my life. Just as she did, I can do hard things.