I do not give up. There are several people who would associate me with the word perseverance. Because this is believed of me, and I have fellow friends and athletes looking up to me, my actions are affected. Being labeled like this pushes me to work even harder.

Perseverance. The word can mean many things. It means not giving up on small tasks. It  means staying committed to a marriage. It means staying positive and never losing hope. According to Dictionary.com, it means a steady persistence in a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. All these definitions mean the same thing; never give up.

The examples I give are how I associate with the word perseverance, but the dictionary's definition is the most accurate. It's important to know when to stop and escape from certain situations. It's important to bail out of an abusive marriage. Sometimes, things that make you unhappy will never improve, no matter how long you work to improve it.

Quitting often isn't the right thing to do, yet we still all do it. I try my hardest not to quit in anything I’m involved in. But still, it happens. I believe that the main reason people quit is because they’re afraid of failure. When a people see a situation go sour, it’s their first instinct to quit on their own terms. Only a select few realize that success isn’t to not fail. Success is failing over and over again, and not quitting. Only those who risk going too far can find out how far they can go.

I’ve always had a passion for playing basketball. I do whatever it takes to get on the court. My first two years of high school, I’d gotten very little varsity playing time. Yet, every year I came back and pushed myself harder than before.  As a junior, I marched into practice determined, ready to play, and ready to fight for what I wanted. But then I hurt my foot.

With my injury, I had to endure a tough year of basketball. After the very first day of practice, my foot was hurting badly, but I decided to just push through the pain. I realize now this would have been a good time to stop. After a couple days of practice, I was told that I was playing full varsity that year. Then, not two days after the good news, I dropped to the floor Friday morning, unable to stand on my foot. I struggled through a couple more weeks of practice, limping around and sitting with my foot in an ice bucket. Eventually, my coach brought me to a realization. I’d have to let my foot heal. I sat for six weeks, not doing any running or jumping. This did not stop me from doing all I could for my team. I was still at every practice, dribbling while riding a stationary bike, doing push ups, arm workouts, and cheering from the sidelines. With the help of my team, I was able to persevere through my injury, and as a result, I’m a stronger person and teammate. My teammates were saviors through this tough time, providing me with inspiring words and shoulders to cry on.

After a long and stressful basketball season junior year, I was ready to redeem myself the summer before senior year. The first week of practice went great. I played better than I ever had before, and the team was working good together. We had our first league game that week, and the small taste I’d had of the upcoming season was looking good. After a restful weekend, we were back at it on Monday. About halfway through practice, a ball was deflected into my finger. It hurt quite badly, but having jammed many fingers before, I thought nothing of it and kept playing. Again, this is another time I should have stopped myself from continuing. After about fifteen minutes of failed attempts at doing anything, I finally bit the bullet and told my coach I needed to go to the hospital. After a painful set of xrays, I was told that not only was my finger broken, but it was broken in three places. No contact sports for six weeks.

Through this boring, painful time of my life, I remained by my team's side once again. The first two weeks, I had to be extra careful, so I sat on the sidelines and cheered, helping when I could. For the last four weeks of being casted, I had a hard cast, so was able to move around more. During this time, I participated almost as much as everyone else. I was able to shoot one handed, I could run, and had perfected the between the legs cross over with one hand. A sweaty cast is one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve experienced, and if continuing to work hard day after day with that isn’t perseverance, I don’t know what is.

Perseverance is a large focus throughout a person’s entire life. For me right now, I persevere through basketball. Soon, I will be able to relate the word perseverance to finishing out my college years and keeping a steady career. Then, I’ll get to persist through my marriage, sticking with the same person through thick and thin. As Walter Elliot once said, “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races, one after the other.”  Life's what you make of it, so with a little bit of tenacity, some hard work, and lots of perseverance, you can live a life full of success and triumph.