{"product_id":"perseverance-isbn-9781605098203","title":"Perseverance","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this inspiring and beautifully illustrated book, bestselling author Margaret Wheatley offers guidance to people everywhere for how to persevere through challenges in their personal lives, with their families, at their workplaces, in their communities, and in their struggles to make a better world.  She provides hope, wisdom, and perspective for learning the discipline of perseverance.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Wheatley does not offer the usual feel-good, rah-rah messages.  Instead, she focuses on the situations, feelings, and challenges that can, over time, cause us to lose heart or lose our way.  Perseverance is a day-by-day decision not to give up.  We have to notice the moments when we feel lost or overwhelmed or betrayed or exhausted and note how we respond to them.  And we have to notice the rewarding times, when we experience the joy of working together on something hard but worthwhile, when we realize we’ve made a small difference. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In a series of concise and compassionate essays Wheately names a behavior or dynamic—such as fearlessness, guilt, joy, jealousy—that supports or impedes our efforts to persevere. She puts each in a broader human or timeless perspective, offering ways to either live by or transcend each one. These essays are self-contained—you can thumb through the book and find what attracts you in the moment.   Perseverance helps you to see yourself and your situation clearly and assume responsibility for changing a situation or our reaction to it if it’s one that troubles us. There deliberately are no examples of other people or their experiences. You are the example—your personal experiences are the basis for change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In addition to Wheatley’s graceful essays there are poems and quotations drawn from traditions and cultures around the world and throughout history.  The book is deeply grounded spiritually, accessing human experience and wisdom from many sources. This grounding and inclusiveness support the essential message—human being throughout time have persevered.  We’re just the most recent ones to face these challenges, and we can meet them as those who came before us did. As Wheatley quotes the elders of the Hopi Nation: “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”I.    Here is a River\u003cbr\u003e II.   Let Go of the Shore\u003cbr\u003e III.  Take Nothing Personally\u003cbr\u003e IV.  Banish the Word Struggle\u003cbr\u003e V.   For We Are The OnesMargaret J. Wheatley is an internationally acclaimed writer, speaker, and teacher for how we can organize our work and sustain our relationships as we journey through this chaotic time. She is the author of four other books; cofounder of the Berkana Institute; an organizational consultant since 1973; a global citizen since her youth; and a very happy mother and grandmother. www.margaretwheatley.comHere Is a River\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e TO MY FELLOW SWIMMERS:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Here is a river flowing now very fast.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It is so great and swift that there are those\u003cbr\u003e who will be afraid, who will try\u003cbr\u003e to hold on to the shore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They are being torn apart and\u003cbr\u003e will suffer greatly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We’ve Been Here Before\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I’m making my shoulders strong\u003cbr\u003e for the young to stand upon,\u003cbr\u003e stepping lightly on the backs of those\u003cbr\u003e who hold me up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It’s a chain of life unending,\u003cbr\u003e ever new and ever bending,\u003cbr\u003e grateful is the heart for the chance to be alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Susan Osborn\u003cbr\u003e Singer\/songwriter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We have never been here before in terms of the global nature of our predicament. For the first time in human history (at least that we know of), we have endangered our home planet. And for the first time, we know what’s happening to just about all 7 billion of us humans, the challenges and terrors we endure and the occasional, reaffirming triumphs. Never before have humans been so aware of one another’s struggles, pain and perseverance. Never before have we known so many of the consequences of what we do—our thoughtless, violent, heroic and loving actions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Yet we have been here before. In our long, mysterious history, humans have had to struggle with enormous upheavals, dislocations, famines and fears. We’ve had to counteract aggression, protect our loved ones and face the end of life as we’ve known it. Over and over again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The scale is different now, but the human experience is the same. And so are our human spirits, capable of generosity or abuse, creativity or destruction, survival or extinction. As we face the challenges and struggles of this time, it might help to recall the centuries of solid shoulders we stand on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And if you reflect on your own life experience, what else have you endured? You’re still here—how did you stay here?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How have you come through rough times before?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What from your own personal history gives you now the capacity to get through this time?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What Time Is It?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,\u003cbr\u003e it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,\u003cbr\u003e it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,\u003cbr\u003e it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,\u003cbr\u003e it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,\u003cbr\u003e we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,\u003cbr\u003e we were all going direct to Heaven,\u003cbr\u003e we were all going direct the other way. In short, the period\u003cbr\u003e was so far like the present period,\u003cbr\u003e that some of its noisiest authorities insisted\u003cbr\u003e on its being received, for good or for evil,\u003cbr\u003e in the superlative degree of comparison only.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Charles Dickens\u003cbr\u003e A Tale of Two Cities, 1859\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It’s Our Turn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world\u003cbr\u003e all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part\u003cbr\u003e of the world that is within our reach. Any small,\u003cbr\u003e calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul,\u003cbr\u003e to assist some portion of this poor suffering world,\u003cbr\u003e will help immensely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Clarissa Pinkola Estes\u003cbr\u003e Writer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Throughout human existence, there have always been people willing to step forward to struggle valiantly in the hope that they might reverse the downward course of events. Some succeeded, some did not. As we face our own time, it’s good to remember that we’re only the most recent humans who have struggled to change things.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Getting engaged in changing things is quite straightforward. If we have an idea, or want to resolve an injustice, or stop a tragedy, we step forward to serve. Instead of being overwhelmed and withdrawing, we act.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e No grand actions are required; we just need to begin speaking up about what we care about. We don’t need to spend a lot of time planning or getting senior leaders involved; we don’t have to wait for official support. We just need to get started—for whatever issue or person we care about.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When we fail, which of course we often will, we don’t have to feel discouraged. Instead, we can look into our mistakes and failures for the valuable learnings they contain. And we can be open to opportunities and help that present themselves, even when they’re different from what we thought we needed. We can follow the energy of “Yes!” rather than accepting defeat or getting stuck in a plan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is how the world always changes. Everyday people not waiting for someone else to fix things or come to their rescue, but simply stepping forward, working together, figuring out how to make things better.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Now it’s our turn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Dwelling in Uncertainty\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The future is no more uncertain than the present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Walt Whitman\u003cbr\u003e Poet\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Some people despair about the darkening direction of the world today. Others are excited by the possibilities for creativity and new ways of living they see emerging out of the darkness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Rather than thinking one perspective is preferable to the other, let’s notice that both are somewhat dangerous. Either position, optimism or pessimism, keeps us from fully engaging with the complexity of this time. If we see only troubles, or only opportunities, in both cases we are blinded by our need for certainty, our need to know what’s going on, to figure things out so we can be useful.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Certainty is a very effective way of defending ourselves from the irresolvable nature of life. If we’re certain, we don’t have to immerse ourselves in the strange puzzling paradoxes that always characterize a time of upheaval:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e -the potential for new beginnings born from the loss of treasured pasts,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e -the grief of dreams dying with the exhilaration of what now might be,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e -the impotence and rage of failed ideals and the power of new aspirations,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e -the horrors inflicted on so many innocents that call us to greater compassion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The challenge is to refuse to categorize ourselves. We don’t have to take sides or define ourselves as either optimists or pessimists. Much better to dwell in uncertainty, hold the paradoxes, live in the complexities and contradictions without needing them to resolve.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is what uncertainty feels like and it’s a very healthy place to dwell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Finding Our Place\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Humans have a responsibility to their own time,\u003cbr\u003e not as if they could seem to stand outside it\u003cbr\u003e and donate various spiritual and material benefit\u003cbr\u003e sto it from a position of compassionate distance.\u003cbr\u003e Humans have a responsibility to find themselves\u003cbr\u003e where they are, in their own proper time and place,\u003cbr\u003e in the history to which they belong and\u003cbr\u003e to which they must inevitably contribute\u003cbr\u003e either their response or their evasions,\u003cbr\u003e either truth and act,\u003cbr\u003e or mere slogan and gesture.\u003cbr\u003e Thomas Merton\u003cbr\u003e Catholic monk, writer, activist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e History Chooses You\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How did I get so lucky\u003cbr\u003e to have my heart awakened\u003cbr\u003e to others and their suffering?\u003cbr\u003e Pema Chödrön\u003cbr\u003e Buddist teacher\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It is strange but familiar to hear people who are now wellknown activists and respected workers for noble causes describe themselves as “accidental activists.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They tell how a compulsion entered them, a clarity that they had to do this work. They say: “I couldn’t not do it” or “If I didn’t do something, I felt I would go crazy” or “Before I even realized what I was doing, I was doing it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In every case, they saw an injustice or tragedy or possibility when others weren’t aware of a thing. They heard a thundering call that nobody else noticed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Why this happens is a puzzlement, but it seems that issues choose us. They summon us to pay attention while others stay oblivious. They prompt us to act while others stay asleep. They offer us dreams of bold new futures that others will never see.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We are both blessed and cursed when history chooses us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But once chosen, we can’t not do it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Right Thing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I was grounded in that moral fiber of\u003cbr\u003e wanting to do the right thing. I was so\u003cbr\u003e sure that this was the right thing because\u003cbr\u003e it was so obvious and even those who\u003cbr\u003e were persecuting me knew, and I knew\u003cbr\u003e they knew...I was doing the right thing.\u003cbr\u003e But they didn’t want me to do it\u003cbr\u003e because it was inconveniencing them,\u003cbr\u003e and I knew that.\u003cbr\u003e Wangari Maathai\u003cbr\u003e Noble Peace Laureate 2004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Naming Myself\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening\u003cbr\u003e that is translated through you into action,\u003cbr\u003e and because there is only one of you in all time,\u003cbr\u003e this expression is unique. And if you block it,\u003cbr\u003e it will never exist through any other\u003cbr\u003e medium and it will be lost...\u003cbr\u003e Martha Graham\u003cbr\u003e Dancer\/choreographer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We often choose a name that seems accurate for us, but that isn’t big enough to contain our entire life. Often such names describe who or where we’ve been, but not where we’re going. Names such as: “cancer survivor,” “victim of war,” “displaced person,” “child of a dysfunctional family.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What is a name that calls you into your future life?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What is a name that can sustain you for the challenges you will inevitably face? A name that supports you to encounter life’s difficulties, not as a victim, but as one who grows stronger and wiser?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What is a name that calls you to be fearless?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The term “spiritual warrior” is one such name. This is not a traditional warrior, but one of a very different type. Spiritual warriors are “those who are brave.” Most importantly, spiritual warriors never use aggression or violence to accomplish their work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The skills that give them power are compassion and insight. It takes years of practice and discipline to cultivate these. And a strong commitment that these are the skills most needed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Those who devote the time and exert the discipline to acquire these skills trust themselves to be of service to this troubled time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Never Too Late\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It becomes a dark time when\u003cbr\u003e we lose faith in each other and thus lack courage.\u003cbr\u003e Chögyam Trungpa\u003cbr\u003e Buddist teacher\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bravery is a choice. It is a decision to enter into the fray no matter how illogical and crazy things are. Even as our friends, family and common sense recommend that we stay away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In our life, we are surrounded by people, events, circumstances that offer continuous proof of how bad things are, including bad people who don’t seem worth struggling for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We did not plan to live in such a crazed world. Very few of us have been prepared by life circumstances to deal with the levels of fear, aggression and insanity we now encounter daily\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When we were being trained to think, to plan, to lead, the world was portrayed as rational, predictable, logical.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But now? Ever present insanity, illogic, injustice, illusion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is just the way it is and will continue to be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We can’t restore sanity to the world, but we can still remain sane and available.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We can still aspire to be of service wherever need summons us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We can still focus our energy on working for good people and good causes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It is never too late to be brave.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Only Don’t Know\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There is only the fight to recover what has been lost\u003cbr\u003e And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions\u003cbr\u003e That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss.\u003cbr\u003e For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.\u003cbr\u003e T. S. Eliot\u003cbr\u003e Poet","brand":"Berrett-Koehler Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300716400869,"sku":"NP9781605098203","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781605098203.jpg?v=1767734675","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/perseverance-isbn-9781605098203","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}