Persistence

Definitions: (1) resolute endurance <especially with what is known to be correct>; (2) abiding; persevering; (3) continuing to exist; lasting; (4) daughty <brave and persistent>

Balancing Qualities: Daring, Diversity, Fearless

Quotes:
• Keep on pluggin’. — John Preston Downs (1913-2005) American businessman & father
• It just goes to show, if you are persistent, something gets done. — Any parent to a child who has just accomplished a project
• Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with great talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. — Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) 30th President of the United States

Affirmation: I refuse to give up. I shall continue, firmly, steadily, and insistently until the good appears. — Catherine Ponder (1927–) The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity {1962}

Comment: The person who asks for something 30 or 40 or even 150 times, and finally gets it, has figured out how to ask for something.




Patience

Definitions: (1) the will or ability to wait calmly; (2) to endure pain or trouble without complaint, losing control, or making a disturbance; (3) quietly tolerating delay, confusion, or inefficiency; (4) refusing to be provoked or angered by insult; forbearing; (5) ministering to the development of the uneducated or inexperienced; accommodating the needs of growing children; (6) steadiness, endurance, or perseverance in performing a task; diligent; (7) resolute and consistent action; abiding; (8) able to relieve grief or anguish
     Note on Definition #3: One of the definitions of tolerance is “to put up with.”
     Note on Definition #6: Having the focus to pay attention to something, and being persistent enough to continue to pay attention to it, will develop patience while you are getting it done.

Derivation: Latin, “to suffer”

Synonyms: composed, constant, even-tempered, equanimity, fortitude, imperturbable, long-suffering, poise, self-controlled, stoic
     Patience refers to the quietness or self-possession of one’s own spirit; resignation refers to the submission of one’s own will to the will of another, uncomplaining; tolerance indicates to put up with pain or hardship.

Balancing Qualities: Adaptable, Foresight, Humor, Initiative, Prepared

Compatible Qualities: assertive, open, perspicacious

Parental Qualities: faith, hope

Familial Qualities: kindness, serenity

Consequential Qualities: confidence, creativity, decisive, freedom, insight, peace, progress, self-discipline, self-esteem, stress hardy, wisdom

Quotes:
• The greatest gift of stone is patience. — Barry Hughart (1934-2019) The Story of the Stone {1988}
• Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American poet
• Patience ceases to be a virtue when it permits others to waste our time. — Pauline M. Schmidt (1907-1979) American mother
• Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. — Mark Twain [born Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835-1910) American Humorist
• Patience is easier if you have respect for the person or thing with which you are trying to be patient. — Judy Kain (1948-) American Empath

Story: You’re all strung out, a hard day at work; you want to take a bath, relax in hot water. Just thinking about that bath, oh, it’s going to be great. But the damn bathtub takes forever to fill up! You’re impatient. It is not the bathtub’s fault; it’s filling up as fast as it can. The impatience is within you. You are the source of the stress because it’s not happening fast enough for your personal satisfaction. The key to patience is appreciation of progress. If you’re satisfied with the pace at which something is going, then you won’t be impatient. And sometimes you can take action to make it go faster. If you do, you are enhancing your patience because you are an active participant in moving it along.
     Part of the impatience is your tense emotional condition. Anything not aligned with your narrow need for instant gratification is going to build the pressure. The trick is to not let the steam get compressed in the first place.
See also: suggestions under Stress Hardy

Affirmation: I choose to be patient. The more patient I am, the sooner I will know what my next course of action will be.

Consideration: Don’t expect your inner self to change instantly. There are instances of that, usually in extreme crisis, but you can’t go around having a life of total crisis all the time. Expect success. Work with patience and continual focus. Give yourself plenty of time. Enlightenment will come gradually or suddenly as you learn and grow and commit to it.

Visualization: You are walking in the woods. To get to the clean running stream you need to go through the briar patch. You move into its jumbled branches but it doesn’t take long to get entangled. You know you cannot stay where you are. You know clear ground is ahead. At first you move too quickly and are pricked and torn by the merciless thorns. The pain quickly teaches you to move with caution. Yet you realize you also need resolve and deliberation. You settle into the most appropriate pace. You pick the ripe berries and enjoy their sweet reward. You are thankful. You stop to remove a thorn stuck in your leg. You notice you are not annoyed by the inconvenience. You bend down to smell the rose that gave you its thorn. As you go on, you move with more confidence and realize you are being pricked less and less. You understand your movements are graceful. You catch the flight of the butterfly just as you are feeling the joy of this thorn-dance. You make your last move into the clearing. You feel relieved and yet, now that you’ve got the hang of it, you’re almost looking forward to the next encounter. You take off your shoes and cool your feet in the water.

Observation: It is easier to be patient with those we judge to be ignorant than with those who we think should know better.

Tips:
• Be diligently present.
• To acquire patience, teach someone something.
• An aspect of patience is realizing how long it takes something to manifest. Allow that time to be.

Comments:
• Patience is often misunderstood as a quality of inaction. Think instead of the inactive time as active anticipation. The hungry hunter who is quiet and alert knows the moment to move will soon be at hand, and he must be ready.
• There is a time tension the patient person sets up, creating an appropriate and favorable outcome. That is, a realization that all will truly be well; brightening the present with hope, beginning the journey into the future. If you cannot see or sense that lighter day, look farther into the future or into a different one.
• Those in power, whether political, parental, industrial, or educational, tend to say, “Be patient.” Often what is really being demanded is not patience but compliance. Know the difference.
• The true nature of the quality of patience has more to do with movement. Patience will deliver the intended goal. If one also has a steadfast intention with hard-working development, there will be consistent progress toward the goal.
Ideally patience is more than a passive, hopeful wish that what you want will come your way. But if that is the only level of activity possible, then you are being actively patient; the first step of your desire to participate in the advancement toward your goal is being met. More steps do come later.

Admonition: We have a tendency to want to repeat really great experiences. Be willing to hold yourself open for the new experience. Use the memory of your experiences as fuel to illuminate the present and the future. Hold with a sensitive, confident faith that the meanings and values of the past will remain in your life. Project your mind and heart into some possible futures and your choices will be clearer.

How to Live This Quality Today: You might be standing in line to talk to the clerk. While you’re there, you can be organizing your comments to present your needs. Occupy your mind with something you enjoy. No time to waste on boredom. Read a book. Talk to the people in line with you. Think about what you need to do when you leave. Plan your vacation.

Symbols: 1) the tortoise; 2) primrose flowers

Legendary Figure: The Lady Enid, in Arthurian legend was a model of constancy, loyalty, and patience

Bibliography: Read about the patience of Job in the Bible. Although Job has been much credited with patience, his story is primarily one of faith. Nevertheless, patience is one of the roots of faith.




ORGANIZER

Divine Definitions: (1) The Originator and Executor of the overall plan of creation <with the ability to effectively and efficiently move reality forward according to this plan>; (2) The preparer of structure <physical and administrative>; (3) The Designer of an interdependent system of organic cosmic order <integrating nature, astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.>; (4) The Architect of the orderly and methodical mind; (5) Presiding over organization; coordinator; director; (6) The expert correlator of all things, meanings, values, and beings

Comment: God’s plan is accommodating enough to encompass every possible set of decisions a person could ever make. Every potential interaction is accounted for. His organization is so flexible as to offer just the right kind of help to each individual toward a more perfect state of mind (and soul) no matter where they are scattered along the road.

ORGANIZED
Human Definitions: (1) an orderly and methodical mind; (2) bringing a new whole into being by rearranging essential elements and interdependent parts; multi-leveled; (3) brought together for a common objective; cooperative; establish or institute <an organization> for a common purpose; amalgamated; (4) a system of organic cosmic order <nature, astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics>

Quotes:
• For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American polymath [eight disciplines]
• Sometimes we let life guide us, and other times we take life by the horns. But one thing is for sure: no matter how organized we are, or how well we plan, we can always expect the unexpected.  — Brandon Jenner (1981-) American actor

Tip: The key to order is putting like objects together.

Suggestion: A simple and effective way of getting organized is by beginning your day making a list, then prioritizing the items, and ending the day making notes. You may even dream of the answers to your knotty issues.




Organization

Definitions: (1) an orderly and methodical mind; (2) bringing a new whole into being by rearranging essential elements and interdependent parts; (3) brought together for a common objective; cooperative; establish or institute <an organization> for a common purpose; amalgamated; (4) a system of organic cosmic order <nature, astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics>

Quotes:
• For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American Statesman
• Sometimes we let life guide us, and other times we take life by the horns. But one thing is for sure: no matter how organized we are, or how well we plan, we can always expect the unexpected.  — Brandon Jenner (1981-) American actor

Tip: The key to order is putting like objects together.

Suggestion: A simple and effective way of getting organized is by beginning your day making a list and ending it making notes. And then prioritize the listed items.




Decency

Definitions: (1) exhibiting proper conduct, speech, or dress; respectable; (2) modest deportment; chaste; (3) generous; kind; fair

Synonyms: becoming, befitting, decorous, seemly, suitable

Quotes:
• Not everyone is able to show courage, but human decency must be demanded of every person. — Andrzej Sebastian Duda (1972-) President of Poland
• We may not all be equally guilty. But we are all equally responsible for building a decent and just society. — Ruby Nell Bridges Hall (1954-) American civil rights activist




Adaptability

Definitions: (1) able to adjust to a new situation or environment <by changing one’s behavior or attitudes>; (2) made to fit <a new use>; (3) suitable for a specific situation; (4) to bring one thing into correspondence with another

Synonyms:
     Adaptable implies a personal modification according to changing circumstances; accommodate suggests yielding to effect a correspondence of view; adjust suggests bringing parts or ideas into close harmonious accord; conform applies to bringing patterns, examples, or principles into agreement with some standard; reconcile implies the demonstration of the underlying compatibility of things that seem to be incompatible; versatile is the ability to adapt to many different functions or activities.

Familial Qualities: flexible, obedient

Quote: Life is adaptable, ubiquitous, and tenacious. Evolution passes on the traits that are valuable, useful, and increasingly serviceable. — Judith Mary Kain (1948-) American empath

Reflection: As we experience our lives, actively and passively, we also become more adaptable. Expansion comes when we look beyond the confines of the circumscribed environment: from the self, to the family, to the community, to the state, to the nation, to the planet, to the universe.

Observation: In evolution, when change occurs in the environment, the species that adapt to the change have become more flexible and more complex; they have expanded their survival boundaries to more than a single environment.
     The more successful mechanisms (or qualities) are those built on a sturdy foundation. They eventually become stable enough to live on their own.
     Just as physical evolution follows how well a species functions in increasingly complex environments, so too do we evolve on levels of the mind, soul, and spirit by those decisions we make in reaction to our internal and external environments. Because we can anticipate the future, we can also be proactive.

Color: green




Artistry

Definitions: (1) done skillfully; aesthetically satisfying; (2) appreciative of art and beauty; sensitive to the arts

People Who Exemplify This Quality: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) French artist

Proverb: Ars longa, vita brevis (Latin): “Art is long, life is short.”

Quotes:
Art is the demonstration that the ordinary is extraordinary. — Amedee Ozenfant (1866-1966) French Cubist painter
Art reveals the artist’s inner self. Art reveals a man’s ideals, what he values. — Terry Goodkind (1948 -) American author
Be responsive to your audience. Art is making an interpretation of an experience. — Gerard “Jerry” Vincent Hubert Downs (1949-) American photographer & writer
The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist. — Arthur Eric Gill (1882-1940) British sculptor
The high mission of any art is, by its illusions, to foreshadow a higher universe reality, to crystallize the emotions of time into the thought of eternity. — The Urantia Book (48:7.23)




Blessings

Definitions: (1) held in reverence; (2) bringing comfort, joy, pleasure, or contentment; (3) enjoying great happiness; blissful

Synonyms: cheerful, endowed, enriched, felicitated, gladdened, thankful

Balancing Qualities: Humble, Responsible
     Note: If you are blessed with the opportunity to serve because of your talents or the situation, seize the moment and choose to take up the responsibility. As you look back on it, or forward to it, you may be humbled by the fact you were chosen to do what was (or is) needed to be done.

Quotes:
• You are blessed as long as you view what happens as a blessing. —

Quotes:
• You are blessed as long as you view what happens as a blessing. — Gerard “Jerry” Vincent Hubert Downs (1949 -) and Joe Burull (1947-2021) American photographers
•Beatitude dips from on high down on us and we see. It is not in us so much as we are in it. If the air comes into our lungs, we breathe and live; if not, we die. If the light comes into our eyes, we see; else not. And if truth come to our mind we suddenly expand to its dimensions. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American philosopher

(1949 -) and Joe Burull (1947-2021) American photographers
•Beatitude dips from on high down on us and we see. It is not in us so much as we are in it. If the air comes into our lungs, we breathe and live; if not, we die. If the light comes into our eyes, we see; else not. And if truth come to our mind we suddenly expand to its dimensions. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American philosopher

Affirmation: I am blessed on every level with happiness, success, and true achievement. I will accept what abundance comes my way with gracious thankfulness.

Mythological Figure: In Greek mythology, Pandora is the first woman (Mother Eve). Although some say Pandora’s box contained all manner of ill, were not these “ills” also offering the blessings of acquiring the virtues needed to overcome the vicissitudes of living with grace? Traditionally the quality at the bottom was HOPE.




Cheerfulness

Definitions: (1) full of good spirits; animated; full of life; joyful; (2) having a bright attitude; lightness of mind; (3) creating contagious merriment; (4) willing; hearty; (5) likely to dispel gloom or worry; (6) something that gladdens <words of cheer>

Synonyms: bonny, buoyant, glad, happy, lively, pleasant, sprightly, sunny, riant <laughing, smiling, mirthful>

Music: Whistle While You Work” {1937}
Whistle while you work
Put on that grin and start right in,
To whistle loud and long
Just hum a merry tune
Just do your best,
Then take a rest and sing yourself a song
— Frank Churchill (1901-1942) American composer
— Leigh Harline (1907-1969) American composer

Proverb: A cheerful heart causes good healing. — The Bible, Proverbs 17:22

Quotes:
• The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up. — Mark Twain [born Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835-1910) Mark Twain’s Notebook {1935}
• Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come. — James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) American romantic poet

Comment: When you are doing what you “know” you are supposed to be doing, you can be in a sublime state of cheerfulness, even if the outside circumstances point to some other emotion. I believe Christ on the cross was in a state of divine cheerfulness, even in the face of apparent failure and excruciating pain, because he was intensely aware he was doing the Father’s will.

Color: yellow




Interested

Definitions: (1) exciting, and then holding, attention or curiosity; attractive; mesmerizing; (2) able to stimulate great desire to learn; thrilling; captivating; (3) able to arouse insight into new aspects; multifaceted; (4) showing acute enthusiasm; avid; (5) very eager or curious; agog

Quotes:
• Happiness goes like the wind, but what is interesting stays. — Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) American Artist
• The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile. — Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) British polymath [four disciplines]

Suggestion: Being genuinely interested in what is wonderful in others will excite them to exhibit the best of themselves; thus, inspiring you to find novel ways to help them feel free to grow and show their endearing qualities.