Perseverance and Passion – our son T showed quite a bit of it the day this picture was taken. It was during our first family trip to Disney World – it was before our daughter was born and T was just 17 months old at the time. It was his first trip and mine too. We were there for the Disney World Marathon weekend (the wife did the half and I did the full). We stayed at the Pop Century that trip (coming full circle as my wife and I will be staying there for the 2014 Goofy Challenge – no kids for the weekend!).
One of the mornings we took T to play on the play structure / play area before we headed off to a park. He decided that morning he was going to climb the slide of the structure and he must have spent 15-20 minutes trying. To be perfectly honest I can’t remember if he made it to the top or not but what I do remember is his attitude while he was trying.
He never once got upset or gave up. He would get half way up and then slide back down, then he would get back up and try again. I must have dozens of photos of him on his morning climb and whenever I look at them I am always impressed with the look on his face. He is focused and shows no frustration whatsoever. He looks happy in the challenge.
That is a Disney thing too – happy in the challenge. Think about what the Imagineers do – creating something new – mixing engineering and artistry. Or Walt himself – the things accomplished by that man don’t happen without perseverance and passion.
It is also a running thing – perseverance and passion. You can’t do a marathon without a bit of both.
My son (and Disney) continues to teach me things.
