It is quite common today for children to try new things without seeing them through to the end. They simply quit whenever they encounter their first challenge. It is up to us, as parents and educators, to instill in them perseverance and the self-discipline needed to continue a task in spite of being confronted with difficulties.
Three years ago, Temple Beth Am hosted Professor Dan Shechtman from Israel as a guest speaker. Not many of us remember the scientific aspects of his lecture, but it is hard to forget the Professor’s description of how his colleagues responded to his discovery.
While on Sabbatical in the US, in the early 80’s, Professor Shechtman discovereda crystal that doesn’t behave like any other known crystals. He called his discovery quasicrystal. When he tried to share his groundbreaking finding with other scholars he was brutally ridiculed. The head of his research team sent him back to read the textbook and he asked him to leave for “bringing disgrace”to their team. Professor Linus Pauling, one of the most important scientists of our time and a two-time Nobel Laureate, attacked Shechtman whenever an opportunity presented itself, saying: “There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists.”It would have been easier for Professor Shechtman to give up than to continue on this path of defending his findings. So,when he received a phone call from Stockholm last month,congratulating him on winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2011, he was mostly grateful for his perseverance.
We need to talk to our children often about the value of “never giving up” and make a special notice when they show determination and commitment. Most importantly, we must lead by example. Next time we face a challenge, whether a struggle in our personal lives, a home improvement project, training for a race, or a work related assignment- persevere. Keep positive when the task gets difficult and strive to see it through to the end. As Albert Einstein said: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”