At the end of this month, I have the pleasure of celebrating fourteen years of marriage to my bride, Mindy. Fourteen years! That would be 13 ½ years longer than some people gave us when we said, “I do.” That’s right; people were betting against us, and why shouldn’t they? We were two young kids in what some referred to as “puppy love.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I love dogs but by no means were these naysayers trying to paint a fuzzy picture for us and the turmoil they just knew we were destined to have.
After all, we did have a whirlwind romance in which history saw our first date on October 9, 2001, and I found myself down on bended knee within a month of that first date. The difference is I knew I loved Mindy the first time I laid my eyes upon her. In the beginning though, she unfortunately didn’t feel the same way.
My mom told me Mindy was just playing hard-to-get, and to be honest, I didn’t like this kind of playing. I mean seriously, who likes to be told “No” over and over again? No one does, and the fear of rejection is why so many people fail in life. I have learned so much from my wife which has helped me in the business world. The first lesson learned prior to getting my first date with her is that “PERSISTENCE BEATS RESISTANCE.”
I asked her out on a date once and she said “No.” I asked her twice, I asked her three times, I asked her four times, and the answer was still “No.” I found different ways to ask her out. Make that five times, six times, seven times, same response. With every resistance she was giving me I was beginning to feel the pressure. I loved her, she loved me, she just didn’t know it yet. Eighth through tenth time, it was always an adamant “No.”
Eventually upon asking for just one date on the thirteenth time, I was finally given the answer I wanted, “I’m going to church on Tuesday night. If you want to you can meet me there.” Did I want to? Was that even a question? Of course, I wanted to or I wouldn’t have risked being the fool twelve times over. I had finally worn her resistance down with my persistence. If I had not stayed on the trail like a bloodhound dog, I would not be blessed to have my beautiful wife today and our two blessings of Abigail and Johana.
Now, what you can learn from my past failures turned success is that too often we give up too easily. We face the slightest bit of resistance, and we decide that maybe that big account we wanted to win, well maybe it doesn’t matter as much as we thought it did. Or maybe that girl who has caught our eye, well maybe there’s some other fish in the sea for us. Now, if it is romance you are after, I highly suggest you pay attention to the amount of persistence you use because if you’re not careful, you may get a nicely crafted letter from the judge warning you to not persist so much.
In life though, we are going to face difficulties and those who don’t can be found in cemeteries. I can remember being a small child and my dad telling me, “Son, it’s not how many times you get knocked down, but what counts is the number of times you get back up.” What my dad was really saying was, “Son, persistence beats resistance.”
If you are up against a tough or difficult situation, do not give up. The best way to beat any kind of resistance is to counter it with Massive Action. The more action you take, the more traction you are going to be able to gain. When you get the action flowing, you will suddenly find yourself being able to knock down any barriers in your way. You will become unstoppable and whatever you set your desire upon, you can achieve. So the next time you face a struggle and think about giving up, I want you to ask yourself how your persistence is. If you are stubborn enough to keep going, you’ll eventually get what you want. For those of you who are wondering, I am the head of the household, but my wife is the neck because the neck is what turns the head.
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard is the manager of the Athens Staples store
