How have I taken my own advice to insist to persist? Better yet, how have I overcome personal problems in my life through perseverance? 2019 has been nothing but problems for myself and my family. As much as I wish I can say we have dealt with minor problems, everything we have experienced has been major. Allow me to give you the three biggest problems we have faced this year and how we have either overcome the problem or how we are currently dealing with the problem. I’ll start with the least major problem of the three and work my way up to the biggest problem we currently face.

This past June of 2019 my wife’s practice, who is a podiatrist by the way, was hit hard with randomsware. What I have learned about randsomware is it’s a form of a computer virus administered by a hacker who essentially encrypts important computer files and holds the files for a hefty randsom. Unfortunately, the files held for randsom were very important to the practice and could not be decrypted, so my wife had no other option but to pay the randsom, receive the files, and move on. As you can imagine having paid the randsom was not only a financial burden on the practice, but on our family as well. The single most important lesson we learned from this experience is SUPPORT IS EVERYTHING. Luckily, during this time of financial stress we had the most amazing support system we could ask for. We endured and persevered because we remembered what good we had and continue to have today. Remembering and reflecting on the good around you is one key to surpassing any hardship you may face. 

Continuing with the second major problem we faced this year in 2019 and how we dealt/deal with it is one we must continue to face today. Earlier this year my wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or MS for short. MS is basically an attack on the nervous system that affects minor and major motor skills. Thankfully my wife is currently receiving treatment to control her MS, but this degenerative disease has the potential to worsen if left unchecked. However, we continue to remain optimistic my wife’s MS will remain controlled and optimism, well optimism is contagious. To persevere through something that seems depressing and hopeless requires optimism that stems from your “why” or driving force in your life. What drives you to pursue your passions, your desires, your hopes, your dreams? For myself and my wife it’s our daughter. Our daughter is our “why” for everything and remembering your “why” is the ultimate factor to insist to persist. Our daughter is really getting us through our greatest problem/tragedy of 2019.