A bottle of perseverance

“Would you like a drink? It’s my own special brew, I call it ‘Perseverance’.”

In a book I was listening to recently, there was mention of someone giving a friend a bottle of green liquid, which was labelled ‘Enthusiasm’. Thinking about this made me smile.

Last night, my son was trying to figure out how to stay upright on his skateboard. He’s only had a couple of goes on it before and he was finding it difficult. I wondered whether it would have helped him if I’d given him a bottle of chocolate milkshake labelled perseverance.

Thankfully, he’s pretty good at persevering, and he did get better as the evening went on. Even better, we came home with no significant cuts or bruises.

Then it got me to thinking, I wonder whether my day would be easier if I labelled my coffee ‘Energy’. Or whether my coffee is, in fact, energy in my mind anyway. I guess that’s where the energy drink market has done so well, they literally have labelled their products as ‘Energy’! Could I have a drink labelled ‘Calm’? Perhaps that’s my chamomile tea. A drink labelled ‘Lose Weight’ could be my green tea. I wonder if my gin and tonic ought to be labelled ‘Oblivion’?

Back to perseverance. Today’s ‘Quote of the Day’ that came up on my phone (I highly recommend the app) is from Barbara Walters. It says:

“Work harder than everybody. You’re not going to get it by whining, and you’re not going to get it by shouting, and you’re not going to get it by quitting. You’re going to get it by being there.”

I reckon that pretty much sums up perseverance.

What would you label your drink, and why?

© Sue Palmer, The Horse Physio, 2021

Treating your horse with care, connection, curiosity and compassion