Virtue: Perseverance
The Dedicant Handbook defines perseverance as follows: “Drive; the motivation to pursue goals even when that pursuit becomes difficult.” Collins English Dictionary defines it as, “the act of persevering; continued, patient effort.”
Exercise 1: Who and What Is persevering? My wife is my first persevering example, as she is thriving and fighting to remain active after a significant medical incident. She endures the obstacles and fights to live as normal as possible when others might not be so steadfast. I’ve known several military people who were persevering against the odds to improve and retain high fitness abilities, complete college, and complete a full career. Remaining steady and progressing against adversity is always present in these people.
Exercise 2: Examining Definitions The Dedicant Handbook covers the definition perfectly to me as it covers the aspects of drive/motivation and the struggle against difficulty. There is no need to require success or completion because the struggle defines perseverance. It implies that one does not simply give up and continues to fight for their goal. Collins English Dictionary’s definition is not incorrect since it seems to focus on the effort but it misses the difficulty that one might face to consider the drive as “perseverance.”
Exercise 3: Seeking the Mythology and History Galileo Galilei suffered the inquisition by the Catholic Church and end up imprisoned. Yet he continued to write and study, publishing more work that was later used to exonerate him. His perseverance was virtuous because he chose not to give into pressure that he knew was incorrect. He chose to remain on the path he had decided was correct.
Exercise 4: The Virtue and the Self I have experienced both perseverance and lack of it in my life, and I am sure many people have also. I persevered through a military career even when there were obstacles and influences to do otherwise. I failed to persevere in scouting as a teenager because of the distractions of youth. I failed to remain on a course I wanted to continue due to competing priorities. Continuing on a path is sometimes difficult and if there were not some sort of obstacle in the journey, it might not be perseverance.
Exercise 5: Your Understanding of the Virtue Perseverance is virtuous since those who seek out goals must press on through obstacles and competing priorities to make progress. Knowledge and understanding must have some amount of this to succeed and this makes it a virtue to those in ADF where people meet to forge a lifelong learning journey. This trait is essential for those in Dumezil’s warrior class as the path is not easy and filled with many challenges. Any time one seeks to improve something, there will be challenges and it takes perseverance to overcome those challenges.
Works Cited
https://www.adf.org/members/training/dp/dp-manual-web/index.html
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/perseverance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/horizon/sept98/galileo.htm