Watching my wife live with cancer taught me about perseverance.

Watching my wife live for two years with terminal cancer taught me these three things about perseverance:

1. To persevere you need a purpose.

Hers was to survive, yes.

For herself.

And her family.

But she also found purpose in sharing her journey.

In the hope it may help others.

Which it did.*

2. To persevere you need to progress.

The days the scans showed shrinkage or slowing were supercharged.

The times we saw growth it was hard to go on.

We need a sense of progress to persevere.

And if it’s not working we need to try something else.

Or ask for help.

3. To persevere you need other people.

People to make yourself accountable to.

People to tell you well done, keep going.

People to help you when you feel like you can’t go on.

People to bear witness.

People to accompany you.

To the end.

To persevere is to continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success.

So -

Whichever course of action you have undertaken

Whatever difficulty you face

Whenever you see no indication of success

Progressing with other people towards a purpose will help you persevere.

*One of Imogen’s Instagram followers saw her posts and finally decided to stop ignoring her own symptoms. She was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer too but they caught it early enough that she was treated and has survived.