Perseverance

Beavers teach a lot.

Beavers are widely known for building dams. They do so to provide ponds as protection against predators and to have easy access to food during winters. They spend hours felling trees and carrying mud, stones, and timber in doing so.

Their ponds flood terrain and expand the habitat of aquatic life. Their dams regulate the water downstream. They help manage water-related problems like droughts, floods, logging, etc.

That’s what justifies the notable metaphor ‘busy beaver’ and also, it wouldn’t be wrong to call them ecosystem engineers.

Now, the story doesn’t end here.

Every year, numerous such beaver dams are destroyed by humans due to issues such as waterlogging or damage to crop fields and fodder lands. Add to this, the strong weather that disrupts them seriously bad.

If it were a human, he would have been devastated at the sight of his mammoth loss. He would whine and find factors to put the blame on. He would make excuses and justify his not trying again.

But that’s not the same with beavers. The beaver wouldn’t waste time sulking or crying about his loss. He wouldn’t be sunken into despair. He wouldn’t find excuses. He wouldn’t waste any more time on it.

He would simply rebuild his dam with the same enthusiasm as before. You can’t convince him into believing that his efforts are of no use. He would continue without wasting a second. And he is ready to do it another ten times.

That’s what fascinates me about them. These little creatures never give up. Although they might not know if their re-building the dam is worth their time and efforts, they persevere.

Now, I am not asking you to let your efforts go futile and work on something which is of no use, rather adopting the fine trait they possess — perseverance.

So what is it that you wanted to achieve but turned down due to one reason or the other? What is it that you gave up trying?

Let us take a quick read of one of your very first nursery tales:

A Hare was mocking a Tortoise one day for being so slow.

“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a laugh.

“Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it.”

The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing, he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.

The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.

The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully and when at last he woke up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but could not overtake the Tortoise in time.

What is it that the tortoise had and the hare lacked?

Perseverance. Persistence. Steadiness.

Being fast isn’t as important as being steady.

One must continue to act in the right direction and should not give up. It takes time to climb each step of the stairs to reach the next floor. The results are not in our hands, but efforts certainly are.

Keep trying and you’ll be miles ahead of where you are today.

A real loser is not one who doesn’t win but one who is so afraid of not winning that he doesn’t even try.