Endeavoring to Persevere 2018


For the better part of 10 years, it was a little tag line at the end of every email I wrote, under my signature. 

Do you remember when this was cool? It wasn't that long ago that most everyone had some sort of motto or message. Long before emojis and other logos. 

Did I think it was cool? I don't know. I suppose. 

I think I wondered if anyone would ever notice, or question it. Or better yet, that they would know what it meant or where it came from. 

During the peak of my management career, I was receiving an average of 120 emails a day, and cranking out approximately 75 of my own. (But who's counting)  

Let's be conservative... 

Over a 10 year period, with an average of 48 weeks a year (I had a nice vacation package), and 75 emails a day, that's on the order of 180,000 emails generated by me. 

Guess how many ever questioned my tag line, or knew what it referred to? 

One. 

Yes, one lone soul out there was paying attention, and it caught his attention. 

"Hey Chad, thanks for the reference to Lone Waite. Great movie." 

That's it? 

Yes, out of 180,000 + emails, that was all I ever got in terms of feedback.



The Bible teaches us to persevere. We are not promised a life free of toil, or hurt, or trouble. In fact, the message of Jesus is quite the opposite. "In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Therefore, I want to be known for encouraging people to persevere. To trudge on. To fight the fight. To never stop trying, caring, working, loving, serving.



I was ten years old in 1976. So there would have been no way my conservative parents would have let me see my all time favorite movie in the theater. (Believe it or not, they did have movie theaters in those days.....even cool ones where you could stay in your car and......I digress). 

For me, the greatest movie making genius of all time is Clint Eastwood. And I know that will get plenty of pushback from many who would disagree. Maybe not the genius part. 

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) chronicles the adventures of the primary character as he makes his way across the post civil war landscape of the Midwest, set out to avenge the murder of his family by Union soldiers. As part of his travels, he meets up with an old Indian chief, while navigating "the nations" (Reservation). Lone Waite is his name. 

For several minutes, Lone Waite offers a diatribe of how his people were abused, exploited, mistreated, and made full of broken promises by the US government. He laments their treatment, even though he was one of the few to be "decorated" in a ceremony, by none other than Abraham Lincoln. And in that famous line (perhaps famous only to me, and one other person on earth), Lone Waite recites Lincoln's words:



"Indians vow to....Endeavor to Persevere."



It's very possible this story has left many of you saying, "wow, that was anti-climactic." Maybe the funny part is that Josey had long since fell into a deep sleep by the time the punch line was rendered. 

But what can I say? We can't argue with history. And we should never ignore something that informs our way of life and thinking and being. This is big stuff, and only God knows if that whole experience of carrying around that line for 35 + years was all so that I had material to write (and a tag line for a blog).
The best way I can end here is to ask you to contemplate, and really think deep, about what one phrase has gripped you for life? Is there one?
 

If not, I am happy to share mine... 😃
Happy New Year friends, and may you endeavor to persevere in 2018!

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