Is persistence naive?

Persistence is a double-edged sword, use it cleverly and you’ll cut through any challenge.

But the wrong power-filled stroke? Yes, can end up slicing you open.

There comes a moment in everyone’s life. You are paralysed by the freedom of choice.

You can either choose to persist into the storm blindly, without knowing the outputs or choose to pull back and save yourself from getting hurt.

Is running into the storm worth the risk when you don’t know the outcome? That’s the question that leaves you scratching your head at 2 am.

Picture this.

A man stands outside in the rain, waiting for a bus that hasn’t come in two hours. His shoes are soaked. His phone is dead. The timetable said “every 15 minutes.” Persistence tells him to wait just a little longer.

Naivety whispers, what if the bus was cancelled hours ago?

Or take the woman texting the same “Hey, hope you’re well” to a friend who hasn’t replied in three months. She believes in bridges, not walls. She also believes in giving people space. She also… has now sent twelve messages.

Persistence can be heroic.

It can also be the reason you’re still wearing a costume at a party everyone else left.

But here’s the twist.

Persistence can win. Picture this for a change.

• The musician who plays the same song every night in the same half-empty bar… until one night someone important is listening.

• The student who keeps applying to scholarships after ten rejections… and finally sees their name on the acceptance letter.

• The runner who trains for years for a race nobody thought they could finish… until they cross the line.

So, is persistence naive?

Or is it the secret ingredient the world won’t tell you about because it wants to see if you’ll figure it out yourself?

Sometimes, you only know which it was… when the rain stops.

Or when you finally give up and the bus appears.