Perseverance

Persevering.  This is where I live.  It has been a long road.  Challenges have abounded.  Hand-in-hand have been many joys and much growth.  Another idea has been present through my days:  persistence.  Old beliefs and thoughts have been persistent, possibly even insidious, requiring me to persevere as I dream myself into my life.  Continued, patient effort has brought me to this place.  Remaining steadfast in the face of opposition is my focus.  I am overcoming and becoming my full self. 

"Inner authority comes not from immediate material or spiritual 'success' but from perseverance.  You gain inner authority with the belief and inner expectation that you do have an essential inner beauty that is priceless, worth struggling to uncover and to know." 
                                                            --Meredith L. Young-Sowers