perseverance ; if a butterfly cannot find anymore pollen in a flower, should it stay or move on?

perseverance is definitely one of my favorite concepts under the acting dimension of the inner development goals! in the IDG framework, perseverance refers to "the capacity to maintain engagement and commitment despite delays in the achievement of desired goals." however, i feel like perseverance gets portrayed in a way in which it seems inherently good, which i don't entirely agree with.

while i absolutely understand that persevering through a struggle does teach many valuable lessons, there are instances when perseverance does not always mean that one should push forward. struggling to learn a challenging concept, training oneself to learn a certain skillset, forming connections with others, and pursuing a distant objective certainly require perseverance–patience in particular! there are moments when it is incredibly difficult to witness progress each day.

however, i feel like the problem lies within this attachment towards believing that giving up means admitting defeat. the world does not stand still for anyone. there are going to be days when you must adapt and move along since circumstances dictate that your original goal was not meant to be anymore. this is where i struggle to define perseverance.

it makes me realize how perseverance might not function alone and needs the help of other IDG skills. knowing ourselves is important because sometimes self-awareness lets us understand what drives us to persevere with our actions. critical thinking allows us to understand if we use the appropriate strategy in our endeavors and helps evaluate them objectively. an internal guidance system allows us to assess if the thing we work towards matches our moral and ethical views. perseverance could mean continuing; however, it also implies taking different ways towards achieving one’s goal.

sometimes there lies this big distinction between "i haven't made it yet" and "this isn't working anymore," which i believe should become a significant step in growing up personally <3

discussion questions !!

• how would you know whether it is healthy or not to persevere?  
• does quitting one’s goal sometimes imply perseverance of something bigger?

perseverance skills are part of the values taught in the inner development goals course, you can learn more about more such values in the course here.

the butterfly searches for flowers with pollen, but when a flower has none, it knows when to move on rather than continuing to stay. like the butterfly, we may need to recognize when something no longer has what we need and have the perseverance to keep searching rather than remain where we cannot grow.

~ thank you!